Worlds: Vonn takes early lead in combined

Lindsey Vonn was not perfect this morning. But she was better than anyone else.
 
All Vonn really needed to achieve during the downhill leg of the women’s World Championship combined on the nasty Rhone-Alpes speed track was to stay somewhere near the front of the pack and ahead of any of the truly good slalom skiers. Running 22nd in a field of just 39, all of her top competitors were already down when she skied, and some more down than others.

The defending combined champ, Sweden’s Anja Paerson for instance, got light over a knoll and could not get enough pressure on her skis to make the next gate and exited early. Both Kathrin Zettel and Maria Riesch, certainly potential contenders in combined, were well back of Swiss teenager Lara Gut, the second place finisher on the morning.

Gut had pulled the string tighter than anyone else, hit the line and ripped a truly nice run. Zettel, among others, beat her to the first interval, so it wasn’t all in the ski prep, either, so join the quickly growing Gut bandwagon. She is for real.Lindsey Vonn was not perfect this morning. But she was better than anyone else.
 
All Vonn really needed to achieve during the downhill leg of the women’s World Championship combined on the nasty Rhone-Alpes speed track was to stay somewhere near the front of the pack and ahead of any of the truly good slalom skiers. Running 22nd in a field of just 39, all of her top competitors were already down when she skied, and some more down than others.

The defending combined champ, Sweden’s Anja Paerson for instance, got light over a knoll and could not get enough pressure on her skis to make the next gate and exited early. Both Kathrin Zettel and Maria Riesch, certainly potential contenders in combined, were well back of Swiss teenager Lara Gut, the second place finisher on the morning.

Gut had pulled the string tighter than anyone else, hit the line and ripped a truly nice run. Zettel, among others, beat her to the first interval, so it wasn’t all in the ski prep, either, so join the quickly growing Gut bandwagon. She is for real.

So is Vonn. Obviously not satisfied with the one gold medal she earned in super G two days ago Vonn also brought that imaginary string through the gates taunt. She did make a mistake, drifting wide once, but she hit the finish beam .41 ahead of Gut and a half second ahead of third finishing Elisabeth Goergl. More important she was nearly a second and a half ahead of German Maria Riesch and Zettel, the best of the ranked slalom skiers to finish.

“It was pretty good,” understated Vonn. “Solid, nothing special. I got down in one piece.”

Right. She is in as comfortable a position for the slalom as she can possibly be. She will start last with a significant lead and on her game in slalom having won the most recent World Cup. Her quest for a second gold, a medal which would make her the most successful female ski racer in history, could not be much better.

As it did in the super G race and in downhill training, the Rhones-Alpes course took serious swings at some racers. In addition to Paerson, the course eliminated the first racer down in in the combined DH – Andrea Dettling – then pummelled Emily Brydon, who took out a gate on her way into the fence.

“I took a little too straight of a line and went though the outside gate,” she said at the finish, still managing to smile. “I can’t decide whether to smile or cry. My ribs are pretty sore.”

Shaking her poles in the start house and plunging around the gates with arms chattering stiffly in front of her, Riesch, who took a bad spill in Wednesday’s training, put down a solid run, finishing fourth and 1.43 seconds behind Vonn … time she could easily make up if her slalom game is on.

“I really had to overcome the psychological problem,” Riesch said after her downhill run. “This morning, I still felt stiff. Luckily I had good light and that helped me a lot. Now I’m in good position for the slalom.”