Olympics: Vonn wins downhill gold, Mancuso silver

WHISTLER, B.C. (Feb. 17) –  After rain and fog made a mess of the Olympic alpine skiing schedule the last five days, the Whistler sun shined bright today on American ski racing stars Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso as the duo won  gold and silver medals in the women’s downhill. Vonn, not normally one for tears, broke down. Wednesday was the day she’d worked for her entire career.

Following in the footsteps her mother set 50 years ago, Austrian Elisabeth Goergl took the bronze medal on a course that several racers proclaimed is the most difficult they’ve ever skied. Goergl, with a healthy lead until Mancuso surged nearly a second ahead in her run, ended up 1.46 seconds behind Vonn.

Mancuso, the defending giant slalom gold medalist, hadn’t finished better than eighth in a World Cup downhill all season. She put down her best downhill run of the season and held the lead through 16 racers and proudly stood in finish area wearing her signature tiara gleaming in the sun with almost a full second lead.

That was until Vonn, No. 16 on course, put her severely bruised shin out of her mind and sailed to a .56 lead and bumped Mancuso to the silver medal slot. The pair watched and waited as 29 more racers unsuccessfully tried to outs them.

“This is the best day of my life,” Vonn told a TV reporter through tears. “It was really bumpy, I almost lost it at the top but I just kept it going and kept fighting. It’s awesome.”

Vonn, who leads the overall World Cup standings and won the first five downhill races of the season, came to the Games with bad news. A week before arriving in Vancouver, the two-time World Champion had badly bruised her shin while slalom training in Europe. She told reporters at an arrival press conference that she hadn’t worn a ski boot since her fall and didn’t know if she would be ready in time for races. Needing only time to heal, the weather delays were music to Vonn’s ears. Two day’s later, though she was in excruciating pain, she had the fastest time in the final official training run and the country breathed a sigh of relief knowing one of their brightest hopes for a gold would be able to go come race day.

“It’s everything I ever wanted or hoped for,” Vonn said, her voice cracking. “I new what I had to do, I knew what kind of run it would take. I attacked the whole way down. I am just so thankful.”

Vonn’s husband, former racer Thomas Vonn, who has seen firsthand the work his wife puts in, appreciated the run more than anyone.  “I can’t even describe it, it’s incredible. She worked so hard,”he said. “It’s been stressful for the last year and for the last week. This has just been incredible.”

Mancuso, who has struggled with a back injury and was shut out of the medals at last season’s World Championships, was also moved to tears with her comeback to Olympic success.

“It’s been a long battle the last year, I just wanted to have a good run and feel good,” said Mancuso. “I was really, really nervous last night and I wanted to use that energy. I used that energy and went out and I did my best.”

With her win, Vonn becomes the only American woman to ever win an Olympic gold medal in downhill. Penny Pitou (1960), Hilary Lindh (1992) and Picabo Street (1994) all won silver medals and Susan Corrock (1972) and Cindy Nelson (1976) won bronze.

American teammate Stacey Cook, who was airlifted off the course after falling in a training run that was canceled after her mishap, looked pleased with her 11th-place effort in the finish area.

“It was two days ago when we had our first training run, it was the toughest day I have had in my life mentally. I don’t remember the crash or the helicopter ride, but it’s about going back up there and going at it again. All the girls were nervous. It’s about being brave and having a lot of character and getting back out there. I trust in my skiing and send it down the hill.”

Canadian Britt Janyk, in the sixth bib, held the final podium spot through 14 racers finished sixth.

“I was standing in the start gate thinking, wow, this is incredible, this is my hill, my home town, the crowd is here for me,” said Brydon. “I really tried to take that feeling with me down the course.”

Third-ranked World Cup dowhiller Anja Paerson of Sweden was on her way to challenge Vonn’s lead when her weight shifted too far back in the final jump and she launched over the problematic final jump. She appeared to be okay after spending several minutes with medical staff. 

Next on course was second-ranked overall racer, Maria Riesch of Germany, one of the last racers that could challenge Vonn. Riesch never looked comfortable after watching Paerson’s fall and finished more than two second behind Vonn.

In addition to Paerson’s fall, there were several dodgy moments in the early goings when Swiss skier Dominique Gisin fell hard on the final jump and slid across the finish line on her back. The capacity crowd cheered several minutes later when she was able to walk away under her own power. Two racers later Italian Daniela Merighetti clipped a gate, lost both skis and slid down the final slope on her backside, throwing her poles in obvious frustration.

Alice McKennis, starting No. 23, was putting down a solid run, within a second of Vonn’s time at the second split, but came into one of the last big left turns off-kilter and had to slide hard outside of the gate to keep from crashing.

“I came into that gate really inside, it was pretty bumpy in there. I got bounced really low. I tried to hang on,” she said. “I wanted to hit that last jump. I didn’t feel that great about my run, but I’m just happy to be here and I’m really excited for Lindsey and Julia.”

Olympic alpine racing continues Thursday with women’s super-combined.

Images by Gepa

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Olympic women’s Downhill, Whistler, BC, Canada, Feb 17, 2010
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
2 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol
3 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
4 Fischbacher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
5 Suter, Stoeckli/Lange/Atomic
6 Janyk, Volkl/Lange/Marker
7 Marchand-Arvier, Rossignol/Rossignol/Rossignol
8 Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
9 Recchia, Volkl/Tecnica/Marker
10 Stechert, Volkl/Tecnia/Marker

Women’s Olympic Downhill, Whistler, BC, Canada, Feb. 17, 2010. … It is the 34th Olympic Downhill. … Austrians have won a third of the previous 33. … With Defago’s win at these Games the Swiss match the French with 6 DH gold, the U.S. (prior to the race) has 2 (B Johnson and T Moe) Canada and Italy 1 each.

It is the first Olympic medal for Lindsey Vonn. … She is the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold in DH. … She has four World Championship medals as well, two gold (DH&SG) from Val d’Isere in 2009 and two silver (DH&SG) for Are 2007. … It is the 13th U.S. gold medal for alpine skiers, the first of these Games. … It is her tenth win of the season. … sixth in DH in seven chances.

It is the second Olympic medal for Julia Mancuso after having won gold in GS at Sestriere in 2006. … She joins Gretchen Fraser, Phil Mahre, Andrea Mead-Lawrence, Tommy Moe, Penny Pitou, Diann Roffe, Jean Saubert and Picabo Street as U.S. winners of two Olympic medals. Bode Miller won his third two days ago. … It is the first podium result of the season for Mancuso, her previous best an eighth in DH at Cortina… It is her best result since placing second in SG at Cortina Jan. 20, 2008. … The one-two finish is the third in Olympic history for Americans in alpine skiing. … Phil and Steve M
ahre in the 1984 slalom and Debbie Armstrong and Christin Cooper in the 1984 GS are the others.

It is the first Olympic result for Elisabeth Goergl. … The 101st in alpine racing for Austria. … the first of these Games. … Goergl’s mother Traudl Hecher won two bronze medals in DH at Squaw Valley in 1960 and Innsbruck in 1964. … It is her third podium result of the season, but first in DH. … She was fourth in the World Championship DH last season and won bronze in combined.

It is the first career Olympic result for Britt Janyk. … and her second best result of the season after a fourth Dec, 4 at Lake Louise. … She was 4th in SG at the 2007 Worlds in Are. … It is a career best Olympic result for Stacey Cook. … and matches her second best result of the season. … It is the third best Olympic result for Emily Brydon. … her sixth best of the season. … It is the best Olympic result for Shona Rubens, her other a 26th in DH in 2006. … It is her third best result of the season.

1	16	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	1:44.19
2	10	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:44.75
3	5	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:45.65
4	14	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT	1:45.68
5	18	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI	1:46.17
6	6	106022	JANYK Britt	1980	CAN	1:46.21
7	15	196460	MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie	1985	FRA	1:46.22
8	22	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:46.26
9	7	295533	RECCHIA Lucia	1980	ITA	1:46.50
10	27	206175	STECHERT Gina	1987	GER	1:46.93
11	4	537582	COOK Stacey	1984	USA	1:46.98
12	12	515170	STYGER Nadia	1978	SUI	1:47.22
13	2	225206	ALCOTT Chemmy	1982	GBR	1:47.31
14	28	55766	MADER Regina	1985	AUT	1:47.53
15	3	495318	RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina	1981	SPA	1:47.62
16	17	105997	BRYDON Emily	1980	CAN	1:47.88
17	8	196573	REVILLET Aurelie	1986	FRA	1:47.92
18	24	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO	1:47.94
19	9	515806	KAMER Nadja	1986	SUI	1:48.14
20	36	565320	FERK Marusa	1988	SLO	1:48.24
21	37	106666	RUBENS Shona	1986	CAN	1:48.53
22	26	296427	SCHNARF Johanna	1984	ITA	1:48.77
23	19	195671	JACQUEMOD Ingrid	1978	FRA	1:48.85
24	32	375018	COLETTI Alexandra	1983	MON	1:48.92
25	29	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT	1:49.95
26	34	485563	PROSTEVA Elena	1990	RUS	1:50.07
27	31	155415	ZAHROBSKA Sarka	1985	CZE	1:50.68
28	39	25096	GUTIERREZ Mireia	1988	AND	1:52.87
29	42	35079	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	1982	ARG	1:53.62
30	25	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE	1:53.76
31	38	35089	SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena	1984	ARG	1:54.25
32	40	435210	GASIENICA DANIEL Agnieszka	1987	POL	1:55.10
33	45	95050	KIRKOVA Maria	1986	BUL	1:56.80
34	41	115115	BARAHONA Noelle	1990	CHI	1:57.47
35	43	245051	BERECZ Anna	1988	HUN	1:57.86
36	44	675019	FEDOTOVA Lyudmila	1986	KAZ	2:01.58
37	1	155563	KRIZOVA Klara	1989	CZE	2:09.27