Lindsey Vonn had one of the biggest victories of her career Saturday, easily winning the most prestigious downhill of the women's World Cup circuit.
The American covered the 1.75-mile Olympia delle Tofane course in 1:36.70 seconds, a massive 0.83 seconds ahead of runner-up Anja Paerson of Sweden.
"I've won by more, but I've never won in Cortina before," said Vonn, who registered her fourth victory of the season and 11th in her career.
''This is one of the great classics of the World Cup tour. It's just one of those races that's important to win in your career.''
Emily Brydon finished third, 1.20 seconds behind, and Brydon's Canadian teammate Kelly Vanderbeek was fourth.
Renate Goetschl of Austria, who holds a record 10 wins in Cortina, was fifth, 1.26 seconds behind, on an overcast day in the Italian Dolomites.
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — Lindsey Vonn recorded one of the biggest victories of her career Saturday, winning the most prestigious downhill of the women's World Cup circuit by a large margin.
The American covered the 2.822-kilometer (1.75-mile) Olympia delle Tofane course in 1 minute, 36.70 seconds, a massive 0.83 seconds ahead of runner-up Anja Paerson of Sweden.
''I've won by more, but I've never won in Cortina before,'' said Vonn, who registered her fourth victory this season and the 11th of her career.
''This is one of the great classics of the World Cup tour. It's just one of those races that's important to win in your career.''
Emily Brydon finished third, 1.20 seconds behind, and Brydon's Canadian teammate Kelly Vanderbeek was fourth.
Renate Goetschl of Austria, who holds a record 10 wins in Cortina, was fifth, 1.26 seconds behind, on an overcast day in the Italian Dolomites.
''I cannot be always the winner,'' Goetschl said. ''For sure it was not my best run. I'm going to have to change something.''
Goetschl is winless this season.
''To beat her is pretty cool,'' Vonn said.
Another American, Julia Mancuso, finished seventh.
Vonn increased her lead at every interval and made virtually no mistakes.
''Four years ago I had my first podium here,'' Vonn said. ''It definitely means a lot to me to win in Cortina.''
Last season, Vonn fell twice during the downhill here.
"I was really nervous last night. We’ve had a lot of snow, but then it got cold last night and it was awesome this morning. I just tried to go fast," she said.
Paerson, in better shape in the speed events this winter, was a satisfied after registering her first downhill podium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where she had previously captured the super G and giant slalom races a few years ago.
“It’s surely nice to confirm my wins from St. Moritz on this demanding course, Lindsey was certainly charging the whole way down today,” Paerson said. “I enjoy being back on the podium after my disappointing results in recent weeks.”
Brydon had been buoyed by winning the one training run, but agreed the course changed with the colder temperatures. "I was almost two seconds faster," she said. "You had to adjust for the speed, but none of us really knew how much, so it was kind of adjust as you go. I really didn't expect to come in that much faster."
She said it was a touch bitter-sweet knocking her roommate Kelly VanderBeek off the podium, but said the Canadian team was enjoying great positive energy and hoped to carry the momentum. It was the first time in World Cup history Canadian women had placed three skiers in the top six of a race.
Riml: "It's pretty simple…"
U.S. head coach Patrick Riml said, "Lindsey was really impressive. After just one training run [because of midweek snows], she looked at video last night with Alex [Hoedlmoser, DH head coach] and made some adjustments from the training run.
"It's pretty simple — you just have to be fastest and Lindsey did a great job doing that," he said. A couple of mistakes at the top of the run cost Mancuso, who skied well through the bottom as she took the lead momentarily. "If Jules cleans things up, she'll be set for the super Gs tomorrow and Monday."
"It definitely pays to have skied on the hill… The more you ski it the easier it becomes," Vonn said. "I pretty much skied line I wanted too… The top section, the third gate is tricky. I didn’t ski that well in training, so we cleaned up the line in there a little and it’s been going pretty well."
The victory also solidified Vonn's lead in the downhill standings. She has won three of the five downhills this season and has 430 points. Britt Janyk of Canada, who finished sixth Saturday, is second with 264 points.
''It looks good, finally,'' Vonn said. ''The last few years I started off well but then had problems. Hopefully this year I can hold on to the end.''
Nicole Hosp of Austria still leads the overall standings with 699 points. Vonn moved up from fourth to second, with 638 points.
With Brydon, Vanderbeek and Janyk, Canadian skiers took three of the top six spots.
''It's all about momentum and confidence,'' Brydon said. ''It's an individual sport but we work well as a team. Any one of us can be on the podium on any given day.
— Hank McKee, The Associated Press, Patrick Lang and USSA contributed to this story
The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Equipment
Women's Downhill, Cortina d Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 19, 2008
Skier, skis/boots/binding
1 Vonn, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
2 Paerson, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
3 Brydon, Salomon/Salomon/Salomon
4 Vanderbeek, Volkl/Lange/Marker
5 Goetschl, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Janyk, Volkl/Lange/Marker
7 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
8 Styger, Volkl/Lange/Marker
9 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
10 Riesch, Head/Lange/Tyrolia
Women's Downhill, Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. … Jan 19, 2008. … It is the 19th race of the women's 38 race 2008 World Cup schedule. … The fifth of 10 scheduled downhills and the only one slated in January.
It is the 11th career World Cup win for Lindsey Vonn. … The eighth in downhill. … It is her fourth win of the season and third in downhill having previously won at Lake Louise Dec. 1 and St Anton Dec. 21. … Additionally she won the combined at St Anton Dec. 22. … It is her first win – but fifth podium – at Cortina. … She had twice finished third in the DH. … Jan. 18, 2004 and Jan. 15, 2005. … It i
s the 179th U.S. World Cup win. … Vonn ranks second among U.S. women behind Tamara McKinney's 18 wins. … She is one win behind Daron Rahlves for fourth all time among U.S. skiers. … She in one win behind Rahlves and Picabo Street for downhill wins.
It is the 77th career World Cup podium for Anja Paerson. … Her seventh in DH. … It is her fourth podium at Cortina, but first in downhill. … It is her third podium of the season having won both the DH and super-G at St Moritz Dec. 15 and 16.
It is the sixth career World Cup podium for Emily Brydon. … and her second of the season having placed second in the St Moritz SG Dec. 16. … It is the eighth Cup podium of the season for Canada.
It is the fourth time Kelly VanderBeek has been fourth or better in a World Cup. … The second in DH having placed second at St Anton earlier this season. … It is the eighth career top six result for Britt Janyk. … Her third time this season. … Her best previous result at Cortina had been 17th last season. … It was the seventh best result at Cortina for Julia Mancuso. … She won the super G last season, Jan. 19, and has three second place results at the resort, two in downhill and one in SG. … It is her fifth best result of the season, the other four all podiums. … It is the fifth scoring result of the season for Stacey Cook. … The seventh for Libby Ludlow.
Winning margin is .83 of a second. Top two are within the same second. … Top 13 within two seconds. … Vonn moves second of the World Cup overall standings behind Nicole Hosp (did not race) 699-638. 610 for Maria Riesch (10th in race) holds third at 610. …Marlies Schild (19th in race) holds fourth overall at 586 with Anja Paerson fifth at 566 and Julia Mancuso sixth at 559. … Vonn has firm control of the downhill standings 430-264 for Britt Janyk. … Renate Goetschl (fifth in race) is third at 255. … Anja Paerson is fourth at 229, Kelly VanderBeek fifth at 189 and Mancuso sixth at 157.
| Rank | Bib | FIS Code | Name | Year | Nation | Total Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 17 | 537544 | VONN Lindsey | 1984 | USA | 1:36.70 | 0.00 |
| 2 | 19 | 505483 | PAERSON Anja | 1981 | SWE | 1:37.53 | 11.59 |
| 3 | 26 | 105997 | BRYDON Emily | 1980 | CAN | 1:37.90 | 16.75 |
| 4 | 21 | 106402 | VANDERBEEK Kelly | 1983 | CAN | 1:37.94 | 17.31 |
| 5 | 22 | 55069 | GOETSCHL Renate | 1975 | AUT | 1:37.96 | 17.59 |
| 6 | 18 | 106022 | JANYK Britt | 1980 | CAN | 1:38.10 | 19.54 |
| 7 | 16 | 537545 | MANCUSO Julia | 1984 | USA | 1:38.18 | 20.66 |
| 8 | 8 | 515170 | STYGER Nadia | 1978 | SUI | 1:38.28 | 22.06 |
| 9 | 11 | 55576 | GOERGL Elisabeth | 1981 | AUT | 1:38.36 | 23.17 |
| 10 | 14 | 206001 | RIESCH Maria | 1984 | 1:38.38 | 23.45 | |
| 11 | 20 | 195671 | JACQUEMOD Ingrid | 1978 | FRA | 1:38.52 | 25.41 |
| 12 | 3 | 296008 | MERIGHETTI Daniela | 1981 | ITA | 1:38.64 | 27.08 |
| 13 | 5 | 296472 | FANCHINI Elena | 1985 | ITA | 1:38.68 | 27.64 |
| 14 | 29 | 515429 | DUMERMUTH Monika | 1977 | SUI | 1:38.77 | 28.90 |
| 15 | 6 | 495318 | RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina | 1981 | SPA | 1:38.86 | 30.16 |
| 16 | 23 | 55750 | FISCHBACHER Andrea | 1985 | AUT | 1:38.99 | 31.97 |
| 17 | 13 | 55669 | HOLAUS Maria | 1983 | AUT | 1:39.06 | 32.95 |
| 18 | 4 | 515560 | SCHILD Martina | 1981 | SUI | 1:39.24 | 35.46 |
| 19 | 12 | 55590 | SCHILD Marlies | 1981 | AUT | 1:39.33 | 36.72 |
| 20 | 36 | 296473 | SIORPAES Wendy | 1985 | ITA | 1:39.38 | 37.41 |
| 21 | 15 | 196460 | MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie | 1985 | FRA | 1:39.61 | 40.63 |
| 22 | 28 | 206175 | STECHERT Gina | 1987 | GER | 1:39.71 | 42.02 |
| 23 | 1 | 55212 | MEISSNITZER Alexandra | 1973 | AUT | 1:39.84 | 43.84 |
| 24 | 34 | 296427 | SCHNARF Johanna | 1984 | ITA | 1:39.88 | 44.40 |
| 25 | 25 | 295136 | CECCARELLI Daniela | 1975 | ITA | 1:39.90 | 44.67 |
| 26 | 37 | 196573 | REVILLET Aurelie | 1986 | FRA | 1:39.96 | 45.51 |
| 27 | 27 | 537582 | COOK Stacey | 1984 | USA | 1:39.99 | 45.93 |
| 28 | 24 | 515348 | BORGHI Catherine | 1976 | SUI | 1:40.04 | 46.63 |
| 29 | 43 | 536884 | LUDLOW Libby | 1981 | USA | 1:40.08 | 47.19 |
| 30 | 30 | 55588 | RUMPFHUBER Ingrid | 1981 | AUT | 1:40.23 | 49.28 |
| 31 | 40 | 515244 | CASANOVA Carmen | 1980 | SUI | 1:40.36 | 51.10 |
| 32 | 46 | 296431 | STUFFER Verena | 1984 | ITA | 1:40.51 | 53.19 |
| 33 | 38 | 538305 | SMITH Leanne | 1987 | USA | 1:40.63 | 54.87 |
| 34 | 7 | 515409 | BERTHOD Sylviane | 1977 | SUI | 1:40.73 | 56.26 |
| 35 | 2 | 225206 | ALCOTT Chemmy | 1982 | GBR | 1:40.99 | 59.89 |
| 36 | 32 | 55596 | WILHELM Kathrin | 1981 | AUT | 1:41.10 | 61.43 |
| 37 | 41 | 505632 | LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica | 1984 | SWE | 1:41.15 | 62.13 |
| 38 | 35 | 565278 | RABIC Urska | 1985 | SLO | 1:41.29 | 64.08 |
| 39 | 42 | 106410 | DESFORGES Emilie | 1983 | CAN | 1:41.61 | 68.55 |
| 40 | 44 | 538284 | MCJAMES Megan | 1987 | USA | 1:41.66 | 69.25 |
| 41 | 48 | 195972 | AUBERT Sandrine | 1982 | FRA | 1:42.47 | 80.55 |
| 42 | 49 | 296476 | ALFIERI Camilla | 1985 | ITA | 1:42.50 | 80.97 |
| 43 | 33 | 106849 | YURKIW Larisa | 1988 | CAN | 1:42.62 | 82.65 |
| 44 | 45 | 106662 | POLESCHUK Danielle | 1986 | CAN | 1:43.13 | 89.77 |
 |
| Official timekeeper |
Did not finish 1st run : HOELZL Kathrin (GER), MAZE Tina (SLO), COLETTI Alexandra (MON), BENT Nike (SWE), AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi (SUI), GISIN Dominique (SUI)
About the Author: Pete Rugh
