Lindsey Vonn took the final training run for the World Cup downhill Saturday at Sestriere, Italy. Vonn clocked in at 1 minute 39.66 seconds over a course getting tougher by the day to finish .23 of a second ahead of Martina Schild of Switzerland. Renate Goetschl, the last woman to win on the course during the World Cup finals of 2004, was third sixth tenths behind Vonn.
    Swiss were fourth and fifth with Nadia Styger and Fraenzi Aufdenblatten getting the placings respectively. Kelly VanderBeek was eighth for Canada while other North Americans included Stacey Cook in 11th, Emily Brydon 12th, Britt Janyk 21st and Julia Mancuso 24th.
    "The course is starting to get interesting," said U.S. speed coach Alex Hoedlmoser. While the track is essentially the same the men used for the 2006 Olympics, it had not exactly struck the coach as being a difficult test.

Lindsey Vonn took the final training run for the World Cup downhill Saturday at Sestriere, Italy. Vonn clocked in at 1 minute 39.66 seconds over a course getting rougher by the day to finish .23 of a second ahead of Martina Schild of Switzerland. Renate Goetschl, the last woman to win on the course during the World Cup finals of 2004, was third sixth tenths behind Vonn.
    Swiss were fourth and fifth with Nadia Styger and Fraenzi Aufdenblatten getting the placings respectively. Kelly VanderBeek was eighth for Canada while other North Americans included Stacey Cook in 11th, Emily Brydon 12th, Britt Janyk 21st and Julia Mancuso 24th.
    "The course is starting to get interesting," said U.S. speed coach Alex Hoedlmoser. While the track is essentially the same the men used for the 2006 Olympics, it had not exactly struck the coach as being a difficult test.
    "We had some new snow for the first trainer and it was slow, pretty easy," Hoedlmoser said. "The upper part is a lot of gliding and then there is some terrain. But it is getting more and more interesting. They're cutting it off. The times were eight to ten seconds faster today and that's a lot. It's getting bumpy. We're getting to have a real downhill. Before it was like kindergarten."
    He said Mancuso, who had been second in training on Thursday, had been trying out different skis Friday, which might explain her drop in the rankings, but added he had not yet viewed video of her run. Libby Ludlow, she said, was resting sore knees and was expected to participate in Saturday's race.
    Like many of the top skiers, Vonn stood up out of her tuck position before crossing the finish line.
    "I still have one more gear left,'' she said. ''I always don't ski my best in training runs."
    The session was run in perfect conditions, with bright sunshine making for optimal visibility. More good weather is forecast for the weekend, with the downhill race scheduled for Saturday and a super-G on Sunday. – Associated Press contributed.

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