Different day, similar result.

Despite an awe-inspiring recovery by American Lindsey Vonn in the middle of the course, it was German Maria Riesch taking her second World Cup downhill win in as many days today (Dec.4) in the picturesque Canadian Rocky Mountains of Lake Louise. 

The women of the World Cup worked the rust out of their speed skills in yesterday’s opening downhill. Today, it felt like summer had never happened. Conditions were ideal with sunny skies temperatures in the teens and barely a breeze. 

They don’t get more exciting than Vonn’s run. After leading in the top section of the course, she again tested her summer training with a heroic recovery after dragging her upper body along the snow while going wide around a tight left-hand turn. Taking every risk possible, she hammered down the rest of the course to ski into a 0.74-second lead on the previous leader. U.S. women’s speed head coach Chip White called the move one of the most amazing recoveries in the history of ski racing.

“I realized I was on my hip and thought I was going into the fence and I just kept thinking ‘get back up, get back up, get back up,'” said Vonn, who attributed the save to her rigorous off season conditioning program. “Somehow I caught my edge and was able to stand back up. Once I was on my feet again I just kept thinking ‘make up time.”

Four racers later, Riesch (1:29.60) who earned her fifth World Cup downhill victory yesterday, made one less mistake down the 33-gate course to edge her good friend by one-tenth of a second. In the finish area, Vonn, a seven-time downhill winner in Lake Louise, could only smile and shake her head in disbelief at losing by such a slim margin to the same woman two days in a row.

”It’s a new race, a new day, a new start. It’s the same for everybody,” said Riesch about winning back-to-back races. “I just try to stay focused and concentrated. I am happy about yesterday but I am focused on today and that’s what you have to do.”

Riesch, a double gold medalist at the Vancouver Games (super combined, slalom), has started this season red hot. In six races she has tallied two wins, two second-place finishes, a fifth and a ninth. “I can’t complain. I have had a really good start to the season,” said Riesch. “Every single race has gone well. But it’s a long season and there’s a lot of races in front of us. You have to keep concentrating through the whole season.”

Making the “coincidence” even more interesting is the fact that the two dined together last night while celebrating the birthday’s of Thomas Vonn and Riesch’s fiancé Marcus Hoefl. To be a fly on the wall at that one. 

Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin (15th yesterday) was 0.68 seconds behind Vonn with the last podium spot. It was her fifth World Cup podium.

High-speed, tight turns at the top of the course made the difference in nearly every racer’s time today as regaining the lead after the third split proved almost impossible.

Italian Daniela Merighetti just missed the podium in fourth place two-tenths of a second ahead of Austrain Elisabeth Goergl in fifth place.

American Julia Mancuso (fourth yesterday) again struggled to maintain speed through the middle of the course but put together a very solid run to secure a sixth-place result, 1.05 seconds off the winning time.

For the second day in a row, an American was the first to test the course. Chelsea Marshall (27th yesterday) took bib number one all the way to a 14th-place result for her second-best career World Cup result following her 8th-place World Cup premier at Sestriere, Italy in 2008. Right behind were teammates Leanne Smith and Alice McKennis tied for 15th.  Laurenne Ross marked her career best World Cup in 19th ahead of Stacey Cook in 25th as the U.S. women put seven of eight starters in the top 30 for the second day in a row.

“These top 15s with Chelsea, Alice and Leanne were fantastic,” said White. “We’re elated with the performance of the entire team. This was probably the slickest conditions we’ve ever seen on a women’s World Cup downhill. It was very very challenging and these girls did a fantastic job of sticking their nose in and making something out of a very difficult situation.”

Fans held their collective breath in the early going as Austrian Andrea Fischbacher in bib 15 lost her balance, spun around and slammed into the safety netting headfirst. An obviously frustrated but apparently unharmed Fischbacher was back on her feet quickly, stretching her neck after the scary spill.       

With another battle going to Riesch, who has 434 overall World Cup points, the war for the big globe at the end of the season rages on as races shift to Europe next week. Vonn currently stands second with 245 points. Vonn, the reigning three-time overall World Cup champion and downhill Olympic gold medalist, has finished on the podium in the last nine consecutive World Cup downhill races in Lake Louise.

It was another tough day for the home team, as the Canadian women again failed to reach the top 30 on their home mountain. Georgia Simmerling was the fastest in 34th place, 2.67 off the leading pace.

World Cup racing in Lake Louise concludes tomorrow with a super G at 11:00 AM local time, before the racers pack up and leave North America for good this season, starting the European tour with super G and giant slalom races in St. Moritz, Switzerland Dec. 11-12. 

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee
Women’s downhill, Lake Louise, Alberta, Dec. 4, 2010. … It is the sixth race of the women’s 37 race World Cup schedule. … and the second of nine DH’s. … It is the second of three women’s speed races on tap for Lake Louise this weekend, the second of two downhills … Lindsey Vonn holds the victory record on the track with seven. … It is the 78th Cup race to be conducted at Lake Louise. … the 48th DH. … And the fourth race (3rd DH) to be held this season.

It is the 16th career World Cup win for Maria Riesch. … her sixth in DH and second in DH this season. … It is her third career victory at Lake Louise and second in two days. …

It is the 66th career World Cup podium for Lindsey Vonn. … Her 33rd in DH. … her 13th at Lake Louise. … and her second in two days.

It is the fifth career World Cup podium for Dominique Gisin. … her second in DH and first at Lake Louise.

It is the 17th best DH result of Julia Mancuso’s career and the first time she has ever finished sixth in a Cup DH. … It is her third best DH result at Lake Louise. … It is the third best career World Cup result for Chelsea Marshall. … It is the fifth best World Cup result for Alice McKennis and the third best at Lake Louise. … Leanne Smith matches her career best World Cup result. … It is a career best Cup result for Laurenne Ross. … It is the 47th career scoring result for Stacey Cook.

Riesch leads the overall standings 434-245 over Vonn. … Elisabeth Goergl (5th in race) is third with 212pts. … Riesch leads the downhill standings 200-160 over Vonn. … Goergl is third  with 105pts.

Germany leads the women’s Nations Cup 1027-751 over Austria. … The U.S. is third with 542pts, Canada 11th with 71pts.