Vonn takes World Cup super G in Cortina, Mancuso fourth

At the site of her first ever World Cup podium, American Lindsey Vonn tallied her 38th career win today (Jan. 21) in a super G in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

Vonn, who hasn’t finished lower than second in a speed race all season, earned her fifth victory of the season and second in a super G with a smooth run down the 1745-meter Olympia Delle Tofane course. The 20th racer out of the start, Vonn led at every split and crossed the finish line with a time of one minute, 11.66 seconds to beat second-place finisher Anja Paerson of Sweden by 0.43 seconds. Vonn also climbed 71 points closer to overall leader Maria Riesch of Germany (ninth today), who currently owns a 1052 to 927 advantage.

“I’ve been making a lot of mistakes in the last few races so today I just tried to have a clean and solid run and I’m really happy with it,” said Vonn who has become a high-speed recovery expert this season. “This gives me a lot of confidence for the next two races this weekend.”

Paerson secured her 93rd career World Cup podium and eighth in Cortina ahead of Austrian Anna Fenninger, who was only seven hundredths of a second behind Paerson in third place today. It was Fenninger’s second podium of the season after finishing third two weeks ago in the Zauchensee downhill.

“I was a little tentative on top and then pushed really hard on the bottom,” Paerson told reporters. “I was able to straighten out some problems with my equipment since the last speed races. Speed skiing is all about finding the right harmony and feeling and I’m starting to feel good. My focus is really on the World Championships.”

Vonn’s winning time bumped her teammate Julia Mancuso off the podium by 0.13 seconds into fourth place with a time of 1:12.26. It was Mancuso’s fourth top-five finish of the season.

Swiss skier Lara Gut, winner of the last super G in Zauchensee, was 0.62 seconds off the winning pace today in fifth place while her teammate Fabienne Suter tied for sixth with Austrian Olympic super G champion Andrea Fischbacher.

Gone were the snow-deteriorating high temperatures that canceled last weekend’s GS and slalom races in Maribor, Slovenia. The cloud cover that dimmed both this week’s downhill training days broke today and the famous Cortina sun was out for race day as the Dolomites were shimmering in all their glory while temperatures stayed in the high teens. Looking ahead to two more days of racing, officials opted to go with the lower super G start for today’s race. Wind gusts from all directions challenged racers throughout the day. “It was pretty windy but I think everyone just had to do the best they could with the conditions they got,” said Vonn.

With her fourth win in Cortina, Vonn now trails Riesch in the overall race by 125 points after a string of four consecutive slalom DNFs saw her slip 196 points behind her good friend. Vonn is chasing her fourth overall globe this year as Riesch fights for her first after finishing as runner-up the last two seasons.

“At this point every downhill and super G race are really important for the overall World Cup. My goal is to try to ski the best I can in every speed race and just try to use every opportunity,” said Vonn, who won super G and downhill races here last season. “Honestly I feel a little pressure because I know I have to ski well in every speed race in order to catch up to Maria. But at the same time, if I ski nervous I’m never going to win anyways. I’m just out there skiing the best I can, trying to attack the course. Usually when I focus on skiing the results follow so that’s what I am going to try to keep doing.”

The U.S. got even more good news from their younger racers as Leanne Smith (in bib No. 35) notched her career high in eighth place. She recorded her previous high on the same slope a year ago with a 15th-place result in the downhill, a feat she repeated this season in Lake Louise.

“I’m really excited, it’s been a long time where I though I was able to do this,” said Smith, who has been racing at the World Cup level since 2007. “I had a good inspection and I had a good feeling. I just tried to lay it down and put it all on the line and I think I did that. I’m pretty excited about how it ended up.”

U.S. teammates Laurenne Ross (bib 34) and Stacey Cook (bib 51) also overcame late starts to hit the points in 19th and 21st, respectively. Chelsea Marshall finished 39th. Today’s results mark the first time the U.S. has never had three top-10 finishers at Cortina.

“There was a very fast set for the super G and the girls were ready for it,” said U.S. head coach Alex Hoeldmoser. “We laid it out that it had to be full attack on that thing and that’s what they did. It was really cool to see how they charged.”

Riesch struggled to maintain speed in the bottom of the course to finish ninth, collecting her 16th top-10 result of the season.

Canadian Britt Janyk led her team in 22nd, 1.54 seconds off the winning pace.  

Women’s World Cup racing continues in Cortina tomorrow with a downhill. A second super G is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 23.  — Eric Williams

Images by Gepa.

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Women’s super G, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 21, 2011
Equipment
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
2 Paerson, Head/Head/Head
3 Fenninger, Head/Head/Head
4 Mancuso, Voelkl/Lange/Marker
5 Gut, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Suter, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
6 Fischbacher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Smith, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
9 Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
10 Hosp, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker

Women’s super G, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 21, 2011. … It is the make-up race for the race blown out of St Moritz and then snowed out of Val d’Isere in December. … It is the 20th race of the women’s 39 race schedule and 18th to be held … The third of seven super G’s. … It is the first of three races scheduled for Cortina. … It is the 79th Cup race held at Cortina. … the 22nd super G. … Renate Goetschl holds the win mark at the site, winning five super G’s and ten races total.

It is the 38th career World Cup win for Lindsey Vonn, extending her U.S. record. … It is her 12th super G win, also a U.S. mark. … She is fourth all time for career wins among women. … She is chasing Anja Paerson’s 41. … She is now tied for second all-time among women for super G wins with Carole Merle, four wins behind Katja Seizinger’s 14. … It is the 219th U.S. World Cup win. … It is her fifth win of the season and second in SG having also won Lake Louise Dec. 5. … It is the eighth win of the season for the U.S. … It is her fourth win at Cortina.

It is the 94th career World Cup podium for Anja Paerson. … her tenth in super G. … and her eighth at Cortina (4th in SG at Cortina). … It is her second podium of the season having also been second at Altenmarkt in DH (and also to Vonn).

It is the third career World Cup podium for Anna Fenninger yet her second second place finish in super G at Cortina (Jan. 26, 2009. … Her other podium came in DH at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee Jan. 8 this season.

It is the 29th career top four finish for Julia Mancuso. … her seventh in super G and her fourth in SG at Cortina. … She won the race in 2007 and was second in ’06 and ’08. … It is a career best result and first top 10 for Leanne Smith. … Her previous best was 15th scored twice in DH, once at Lake Louise in December and at Cortina a season ago. … Laurenne Ross matches her second best career mark. … She was also 19th at Lake Louise in DH earlier this
season. … Her one better placing is 16th in combined at Val d’Isere, also this season. … It is the second best result of the season for Stacey Cook as she was 20th at Lake Louise in SG. … It is the fourth score of the season for Britt Janyk, she second in SG.

Maria Riesch (9th in race) maintains the lead of the World Cup overall standings 1052-927 over Vonn. … Tanja Poutiainen (did not race) is third with 580. … Michele-Marie Gagnon (did not race) is the top Canadian in 29th with 131pts. … Vonn leads the super G standings 280-149 over Riesch. … Lara Gut (5th in race) is third with 146pts. … Julia Mancuso is fourth with 125pts. … Top Canadian is Janyk in 20th place with 38pts. … Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 2788-2201 over Germany. … The U.S. is third with 1712pts. … Canada is tenth with 269pts.

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	20	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	1:11.66	0.00
2	12	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	1:12.09	6.36
3	14	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT	1:12.13	6.95
4	11	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:12.26	8.88
5	13	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI	1:12.28	9.17
6	21	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI	1:12.48	12.13
6	17	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT	1:12.48	12.13
8	35	538305	SMITH Leanne	1987	USA	1:12.51	12.57
9	16	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:12.52	12.72
10	23	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT	1:12.53	12.87
11	8	515747	GISIN Dominique	1985	SUI	1:12.66	14.79
11	1	205218	REBENSBURG Viktoria	1989	GER	1:12.66	14.79
13	4	55806	ALTACHER Margret	1986	AUT	1:12.80	16.86
14	24	515806	KAMER Nadja	1986	SUI	1:12.95	19.08
15	33	297910	CURTONI Elena	1991	ITA	1:13.00	19.82
16	19	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	1:13.01	19.97
17	31	296008	MERIGHETTI Daniela	1981	ITA	1:13.04	20.41
18	9	196460	MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie	1985	FRA	1:13.10	21.30
19	34	538573	ROSS Laurenne	1988	USA	1:13.15	22.04
20	6	195983	ROLLAND Marion	1982	FRA	1:13.16	22.19
21	51	537582	COOK Stacey	1984	USA	1:13.18	22.48
22	28	106022	JANYK Britt	1980	CAN	1:13.20	22.78
23	5	296427	SCHNARF Johanna	1984	ITA	1:13.22	23.08
24	29	55766	MADER Regina	1985	AUT	1:13.23	23.22
25	25	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE	1:13.32	24.55
25	15	515573	AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi	1981	SUI	1:13.32	24.55
27	26	295533	RECCHIA Lucia	1980	ITA	1:13.49	27.07
28	2	495318	RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina	1981	SPA	1:13.54	27.81
29	53	196968	BAILET Margot	1990	FRA	1:13.57	28.25
30	18	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:13.58	28.40
31	27	515560	SCHILD Martina	1981	SUI	1:13.61	28.84
32	45	515782	ABDERHALDEN Marianne	1986	SUI	1:13.62	28.99
33	22	195671	JACQUEMOD Ingrid	1978	FRA	1:13.86	32.54
34	39	297702	MARSAGLIA Francesca	1990	ITA	1:13.91	33.28
35	3	565320	FERK Marusa	1988	SLO	1:13.94	33.73
36	46	296431	STUFFER Verena	1984	ITA	1:14.02	34.91
37	40	55913	MOSER Stefanie	1988	AUT	1:14.06	35.50
38	48	515997	FEIERABEND Denise	1989	SUI	1:14.08	35.80
39	43	538038	MARSHALL Chelsea	1986	USA	1:14.31	39.20
40	36	297153	CIPRIANI Enrica	1988	ITA	1:14.37	40.09
41	44	425880	SEJERSTED Lotte Smiseth	1991	NOR	1:14.39	40.38
42	32	55978	VOGLREITER Mariella	1989	AUT	1:14.53	42.45
43	7	206175	STECHERT Gina	1987	GER	1:14.80	46.45
44	10	515849	DETTLING Andrea	1987	SUI	1:14.82	46.74
45	49	206323	STIEPEL Isabelle	1990	GER	1:14.83	46.89
46	41	55759	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1985	AUT	1:14.91	48.07
47	37	55882	STAUDINGER Christina	1987	AUT	1:14.93	48.37
48	54	106825	PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier	1988	CAN	1:14.95	48.67
49	52	105920	SIMMERLING Georgia	1989	CAN	1:15.95	63.46
50	38	297134	BORSOTTI Camilla	1988	ITA	1:16.52	71.89
51	55	225308	THORBURN Pamela	1986	GBR	1:16.84	76.62
52	56	35079	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	1982	ARG	1:17.98	93.49
Disqualified 1st run
	30	296472	FANCHINI Elena	1985	ITA
Did not start 1st run
	59	296379	GIANESINI Giulia	1984	ITA
Did not finish 1st run
	58	495763	JARDI Andrea	1990	SPA
	57	375018	COLETTI Alexandra	1983	MON
	50	565373	ROBNIK Tina	1991	SLO
	47	196573	REVILLET Aurelie	1986	FRA
	42	297601	BRIGNONE Federica	1990	ITA