Come on, Cortina

Once the snow stops falling in Cortina, Italy, Lindsey Vonn is poised to add more points to her World Cup lead with a stroll – or maybe something more vigorous – down memory lane.

The women’s World Cup downhill training was cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday due to some 25 inches of fresh snow on the course, along with Thursday’s super-G. Downhill training has been moved to Thursday and downhill races Friday and Saturday and a giant slalom Sunday will be run as scheduled.

Cortina is a nostalgic venue for Vonn. She stood on a World Cup podium for the first time there, with a third place in downhill in 2004. She followed up with two more podiums in DH in 2005, another in SG in 2006, and a victory in last year’s downhill.

“I love the course in Cortina,” Vonn said after the Zauchensee downhill. “There’s a lot of terrain, a lot of jumps. There’s not a lot of air, but there’s a lot of action. I have confidence there. And great memories.”

Once the snow stops falling in Cortina, Italy, Lindsey Vonn is poised to add more points to her World Cup lead with a stroll – or maybe something more vigorous – down memory lane.

The women’s World Cup downhill training was cancelled Tuesday and Wednesday due to some 25 inches of fresh snow on the course, along with Thursday’s super-G. Downhill training has been moved to Thursday and downhill races Friday and Saturday and a giant slalom Sunday will be run as scheduled.

Cortina is a nostalgic venue for Vonn. She stood on a World Cup podium for the first time there, with a third place in downhill in 2004. She followed up with two more podiums in DH in 2005, another in SG in 2006, and a victory in last year’s downhill.

“I love the course in Cortina,” Vonn said after the Zauchensee downhill. “There’s a lot of terrain, a lot of jumps. There’s not a lot of air, but there’s a lot of action. I have confidence there. And great memories.”

After hoisted herself back into leading the World Cup overall lead with a super-combined win and second place in downhill last weekend in Zauchensee. Vonn is on top of the overall standings with 776 points, followed by Maria Riesch with 765 and Anja Paerson with 702.

“It’s confidence-building,” Vonn said of re-establishing the Cup lead. “After the long series of wins Maria’s had in slalom, I’m really happy to pull ahead a little bit. But if I stay in the hunt with her, I’m really going to have to execute in Cortina. I’m really have to seize every opportunity.”

Saturday’s downhill in Cortina replaces one of the post-poned races from December’s stop in Lake Louise.

“We have a big block of skiing ahead of us,” said Leanne Smith, who wrapped up a solid weekend in Zauchensee with a 22nd place finish in the downhill. “In Cortina, the course comes at you the way down. It’s one of those courses where you get to the bottom and you’re pretty tired. It’s going to be a pretty big weekend; four races in a row. You can do some damage.”

Watch the Cortina races live on Universal Sports.