Worlds: Vonn claims gold in super G

Just in case you weren’t sure, the first race of the 2009 FIS World Championships at Val d’Isere France confirms this much: Lindsey Vonn is incredible.

Tuesday morning she got the gold medal she professed to wanting so badly, taking the women’s super G by .34 of a second.     

The French got second from Marie Marchand-Arvier, in a fitting tribute to the organizational efforts of the hosts with Andrea Fischbacher of Austria .40 back.

Also confirmed by this race was the talk of how difficult this Piste Rhone-Alpes course is. It took its toll and took it repeatedly. Fourth place went to the first skier on course, Austrian Anna Fenninger and her moment in the sun lasted about a minute and a half, about the time it took Marchand-Arvier to complete the course.

Marchand-Arvier was the second racer on course, and she crushed Fenninger’s time by nearly a second (.94).Just in case you weren’t sure, the first race of the 2009 FIS World Championships at Val d’Isere France confirms this much: Lindsey Vonn is incredible.

Tuesday morning she got the gold medal she professed to wanting so badly, taking the women’s super G by .34 of a second.      .

The French got second from Marie Marchand-Arvier, in a fitting tribute to the organizational efforts of the hosts with Andrea Fischbacher of Austria .40 back.

Also confirmed by this race was the talk of how difficult this Piste Rhone-Alpes course is. It took its toll and took it repeatedly. Fourth place went to the first skier on course, Austrian Anna Fenninger and her moment in the sun lasted about a minute and a half, about the time it took Marchand-Arvier to complete the course.

Marchand-Arvier was the second racer on course, and she crushed Fenninger’s time by nearly a second (.94).

Soon it began to seem, to the partisan French crowd, that perhaps the miracle might happen. Skier after skier could not master the steep and twisted course. Gina Stechert and Daniela Merighetti lost their way. Julia Mancuso lasted two gates and right behind her the fabled Renate Goetschl went out five or six gates into it. Fraenzi Aufdenblatten made it about two-thirds of the way down and Andrea Dettling maybe half way before Fischbacher became the second racer to come within a full second of the French femme.

When skiers of undeniable skill, Maria Riesch, Jessica Lindell-Vikarby, Fabienne Suter and Anja Paerson could not get inside the sixth best time of the day (Paerson was a DNF but would not have challenged anyway) the crowd could taste the possibility of the miracle.

But Vonn was still to run and this course, with fall away sections and huge, long, cranking turns seemed tailor made for the big, exceptionally strong American.

Seemed and was. Vonn took the early lead, the only skier to out pace Marchand-Arvier to the first interval, then fell back in the middle much to the delight of the crowd. At the third interval she had made up the ground, displaying patience and power. At the finish she had nipped the French dreams of a miracle in the bud for a .34 of a second margin and the first World Championship for an American woman since Hilary Lindh took the ’97 downhill at Sestiere.

“I have always wanted to be a World Champion,” she told French television, “and today I am.”

“It’s incredible. I can’t even explain what I felt when I crossed that finish line and saw my name on top with a number one.”

It was the third straight win for Vonn as she came out of Garmisch, Germany winning the last two World Cup races, a slalom Friday and a super G Sunday. Tuesday she made it official. Lindsey Vonn is now the best in the world.

“I skied with my heart,” she said, unable to wipe the permanent grin off her face. “I gave it everything I had. I’m just so happy to be coming away with a win today. It’s an incredible day for me.”

The ongoing commentary from one racer after another was that it was nearly impossible to find a rhythm on the relentless course. Vonn inspected every gate with an eagle eye and put a lot of premeditated thought into her line, not holding back but going full throttle with her plan.

“I was going 100 percent,” she said. “I was attacking the line, but I was also smart. There were some sections were other girls had trouble and weren’t finishing. I gave myself a little bit of room above the gates.”

While not a one of the other late starters could master the blinding flat light that consumed the course, Vonn said it did nothing to hamper her speed.

“I watched the first two girls go and it was totally sunny. Then when I got up to the start it was dark. But I have no problem skiing with flat light,” she said. “I think that was an advanatage for me. Some of the other girls maybe are a little bit more conservative when it comes to flat light skiing but for me, I didn’t hold anything back. I knew exactly where the bumpy sections were. I skied the right line and was able to hold my speed through the whole course.”

There was never any question of Vonn’s talents among her fellow racers, least of all from her best friend Maria Riesch, who finished eighth after starting 16th, also contending against the flat light. Still, Riesch admitted that neither she nor any of the other top racers could master the elements like Vonn.

“She deserved it,” Riesch said after the race. “She was the only one starting (late) who killed it although the light was not so good, so she deserved the gold medal for today. It’s such a tough course when you have good light or bad light it makes a huge difference. For Lindsey, she won it anyway.”

Vonn is racking up a history at Val d’Isere. It was here that she earned her first World Cup points, finishing a World Cup SG in 26th place in 2002, then was awarded the traditional prize of a cow when she won in 2007. On Tuesday, Vonn pointed out that the cow has turned out to be “a good investment, especially in today’s economy” because it now has two calves and is worth considerably more than its original price tag of 1,500 euros.

As for positive memories, Vonn has no plans of stopping at a world super G championship.

“Val d’Isere has been a good place for me,” she said. “Hopefully I can make a little more history here this week.”

---

The SCOOP

Women’s super G, Val d’Isere, France, Feb. 3, 2009
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Vonn, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2 Marchand-Arvier, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
3 Fischbacher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Fenninger, Head/Head/Head
5 Maze, Stoeckli/Lange/Rossignol
6 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
7 Gut, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
8 Riesch, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
9 Fanchini, Dynastar/Lange/Look
10 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker

Women’s super G, Val d’Isere, France, Feb. 3, 2009. … It is the opening race of the 2009 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. … It is the 258th World Championship race, dating back to 1931. … The 23rd super G dating back to 1987.

It is the third career World Championship medal for Lindsey Vonn and her first gold medal. … She won silver medals in the super G and downhill at Are in 2007. … It is the 13th World Championship gold medal for a U.S. skier. … the third in SG and the first in SG for a woman. … It is the first US gold medal for a woman since Hilary Lindh in DH in 1997 at Sestriere. … It is the sixth victory of the season for Vonn and third in five days.

It is the first career podium for Marie Marchand-Arvier in Olympic, World Championship or World Cup competition. … It is the 83rd World Championship medal for France. … The fourth in SG and the third in SG for French women.

It is the first World Championship podium result for Andrea Fischbacher. … And her third podium finish of the season, second in SG. … It is the 196th World Championship podium for Austria (discounting team events). … The 22nd in super G.

Emily Brydon misses a career best super G result in World Championships by one placing. … She was 12th in at St Anton in 2001. … It is the second best World Championship for Britt Janyk as well. … She was fourth at Are in 2007. … It is the second career World Championship placing for Stacey Cook. … She was 16th in DH at Are. … Kelly VanderBeek matches her second best career World Championship result. … Her best a 20th in combined at St Moritz in 2003. … It is her best championship result in SG.

Medal Count:
USA 1 gold
FRA 1 silver
AUT 1 bronze

---

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	21	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	1:20.73	0.00
2	2	196460	MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie	1985	FRA	1:21.07	4.46
3	14	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT	1:21.13	5.25
4	1	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT	1:22.01	16.81
5	5	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	1:22.06	17.46
6	20	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:22.27	20.22
7	15	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI	1:22.34	21.14
8	16	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:22.44	22.45
9	22	296729	FANCHINI Nadia	1986	ITA	1:22.75	26.52
10	27	205218	REBENSBURG Viktoria	1989	GER	1:22.80	27.18
11	18	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI	1:22.90	28.49
12	17	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE	1:22.91	28.62
13	8	105997	BRYDON Emily	1980	CAN	1:22.95	29.15
14	3	495318	RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina	1981	SPA	1:23.37	34.66
15	4	155415	ZAHROBSKA Sarka	1985	CZE	1:23.53	36.76
16	25	195983	ROLLAND Marion	1982	FRA	1:23.86	41.10
17	11	106022	JANYK Britt	1980	CAN	1:24.58	50.55
18	32	465059	MIKLOS Edith	1988	ROU	1:24.69	52.00
19	24	195671	JACQUEMOD Ingrid	1978	FRA	1:24.70	52.13
20	33	225206	ALCOTT Chemmy	1982	GBR	1:25.19	58.56
21	30	296473	SIORPAES Wendy	1985	ITA	1:25.35	60.66
22	29	537582	COOK Stacey	1984	USA	1:25.38	61.06
23	23	106402	VANDERBEEK Kelly	1983	CAN	1:25.83	66.96
24	28	196573	REVILLET Aurelie	1986	FRA	1:26.28	72.87
25	35	155563	KRIZOVA Klara	1989	CZE	1:26.48	75.50
26	41	315149	LOLOVIC Jelena	1981	SRB	1:27.33	86.66
27	36	565333	BRODNIK Vanja	1989	SLO	1:27.39	87.45
28	49	95050	KIRKOVA Maria	1986	BUL	1:29.37	113.44
29	44	25096	GUTIERREZ Mireia	1988	AND	1:29.70	117.78
30	51	665008	KUZMENKA Lizaveta	1987	BLR	1:29.92	120.67
31	45	665009	SCHKANOVA Marija	1989	BLR	1:32.58	155.59
32	47	695073	SKRYABINA Anastasiya	1985	UKR	1:33.10	162.42
33	54	695063	MATSOTSKA Bogdana	1989	UKR	1:34.15	176.21
34	46	245051	BERECZ Anna	1988	HUN	1:34.58	181.85
35	50	115152	JOFFROY Stephanie	1991	CHI	1:35.20	189.99
36	56	695048	GISEM Tamara	1984	UKR	1:35.31	191.44
37	53	115115	BARAHONA Noelle	1990	CHI	1:36.30	204.44
38	48	115127	MARINOVIC Florencia	1991	CHI	1:36.41	205.88

 

Did not start 1st run: MARSHALL Chelsea (USA)

Did not finish 1st run: FEDOTOVA Lyudmila (KAZ), VAN BUYNDER Isabel (BEL), HANSDOTTER Frida (SWE), MORLANS Leyre (SPA), YURKIW Larisa (CAN), COLETTI Alexandra (MON), ROBNIK Mateja (SLO), FERK Marusa (SLO), RECCHIA Lucia (ITA), PAERSON Anja (SWE), DETTLING Andrea (SUI), AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi (SUI), GOETSCHL Renate (AUT), MANCUSO Julia (USA), MERIGHETTI Daniela (ITA), STECHERT Gina (GER)

Disqualified 1st run: HRSTKOVA Lucie (CZE)