Vonn back to winning ways in Garmisch downhill

By Published On: January 21st, 2017Comments Off on Vonn back to winning ways in Garmisch downhill

The winningest downhiller of all time is no stranger to the seeing the green light after her run, but Lindsey Vonn’s win in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, was particularly emotional for the American. She broke into tears as she walked through the finish area and hugged competitors and coaches alike. With a final time of 1:43.41, Vonn earned her 39th downhill win and 77th World Cup win just two weeks after returning from injury.

“I just got to the bottom and I cried,” Vonn said. “I worked really hard to come back and, you know, I feel like sometimes I come back so quickly, everyone forgets how much time and energy, blood, sweat and tears it takes to come back without any training and just jump in there. And I had to trust myself and my team and my technician, and we all did our best, and today was just amazing.”

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, GERMANY - JANUARY 21: Lara Gut of Switzerland competes during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Downhill on January 21, 2017 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany (Photo by Stanko Gruden/Agence Zoom)Just behind Vonn was Switzerland’s Lara Gut, earning 80 World Cup points. She was 0.15 seconds off the American’s pace. The third-place athlete was a special treat for the home crowd as Viktoria Rebensburg snagged the final spot on the podium, 0.48 seconds away from the win.

On the Kandahar slope, the challenges of the set reared its ugly head as athletes struggled to stay on the line and not get sucked low on the track. It took a combination of strength, tactics and sheer tenacity. Vonn also had the benefit of experience, being the only woman ever to win multiple downhills at the venue including victories in 2012 and 2016. In this year’s race, there was one gate, in particular, at the bottom of the course, which Vonn missed in training.

“I didn’t really try very hard to make the gate yesterday, so I knew as long as I stood on it and I gave myself a little bit of extra room just so that I carried the speed through that section,” Vonn said. “It wasn’t really in my head too much.”

For Gut, a small hiccup at the bottom of the course likely cost her the win, but she is confident that she can win when she executes her race plan.

“I’m pretty happy because I know I can be close to the win all the time if I ski the way I can,” Gut said.

Gut still sits in second place in the downhill standings with 260 points, just behind Slovenian Ilka Stuhec with 377 points. Stuhec skied to 8th in Saturday’s downhill.

For Rebensburg, the result was a bit of deja vu. The German was also third in the downhill last year at Garmisch, which was her most recent podium result in the discipline as well.

“I knew from the training that I felt pretty well down there, but the run didn’t feel that great because I think it was faster than yesterday, so the turns were pushing way more than yesterday also,” Rebensburg said. “Then, I thought I’m really down, but it was fast. I tried to keep the skis running, and yeah, I’m pretty happy about it.”

In total, Rebensburg has earned 33 career World Cup podiums in over 190 World Cup starts.

Breezy Johnson got a special birthday treat after earning a 11th-place result when the crowd serenaded her with “Happy Birthday” in the finish area. The young athlete turned 21 years old on Thursday. Behind her were veteran U.S. Ski Team athletes Laurenne Ross and Stacey Cook, tying for 18th place. Jacqueline Wiles, who earned her first World Cup podium last weekend, ended the day in 26th. Leanne Smith finished in 37th place. Teammate Alice Mckennis did not finish after her outside ski popped off unexpectedly in the middle of the course.

American Mikaela Shiffrin, who did not race the downhill, continues to lead in the overall standings with 1008 points. Gut is attempting close the gap and currently has 773 points. Stuhec is third in the overall standings with 616 points.

Women’s racing action continues in Garmisch on Sunday with a super-G race.


Top 10

  1. Lindsey Vonn (USA) – Head / Head / Head
  2. Lara Gut (SUI) – Head / Head / Head
  3. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) – Stoeckli / Lange / Marker
  4. Ramona Siebenhofer (AUT) – Head / Head / Head
  5. Sofia Goggia (ITA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
  6. Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT) – Fischer / Fischer / Fischer
  7. Fabienne Suter (SUI) – Dynastar / Lange / Look
  8. Ilka Stuhec (SLO) – Stoeckli / Lange / Marker
  9. Tina Weirather (LIE) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
  10. Ricarda Haaser (AUT) – Fischer / Fischer / Fischer

Official Results

Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Total Time Diff.
 1  17  537544 VONN Lindsey 1984 USA  1:43.41
 2  9  516138 GUT Lara 1991 SUI  1:43.56  +0.15
 3  1  205218 REBENSBURG Viktoria 1989 GER  1:43.89  +0.48
 4  10  56087 SIEBENHOFER Ramona 1991 AUT  1:44.00  +0.59
 5  20  298323 GOGGIA Sofia 1992 ITA  1:44.29  +0.88
 6  6  55970 SCHMIDHOFER Nicole 1989 AUT  1:44.33  +0.92
 7  15  515766 SUTER Fabienne 1985 SUI  1:44.45  +1.04
 8  7  565360 STUHEC Ilka 1990 SLO  1:44.54  +1.13
 9  5  355050 WEIRATHER Tina 1989 LIE  1:44.59  +1.18
 10  53  56174 HAASER Ricarda 1993 AUT  1:44.69  +1.28
 11  25  6535455 JOHNSON Breezy 1996 USA  1:45.02  +1.61
 12  33  516248 FLURY Jasmine 1993 SUI  1:45.08  +1.67
 13  46  155763 LEDECKA Ester 1995 CZE  1:45.11  +1.70
 14  31  297601 BRIGNONE Federica 1990 ITA  1:45.13  +1.72
 15  14  55576 GOERGL Elisabeth 1981 AUT  1:45.17  +1.76
 16  12  56125 PUCHNER Mirjam 1992 AUT  1:45.27  +1.86
 17  16  56177 VENIER Stephanie 1993 AUT  1:45.31  +1.90
 18  19  538573 ROSS Laurenne 1988 USA  1:45.32  +1.91
 18  2  537582 COOK Stacey 1984 USA  1:45.32  +1.91
 20  11  516319 SUTER Corinne 1994 SUI  1:45.43  +2.02
 21  4  297910 CURTONI Elena 1991 ITA  1:45.70  +2.29
 22  39  426043 TVIBERG Maria Therese 1994 NOR  1:45.93  +2.52
 23  28  425929 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 1992 NOR  1:45.95  +2.54
 24  23  296431 STUFFER Verena 1984 ITA  1:46.04  +2.63
 24  18  296472 FANCHINI Elena 1985 ITA  1:46.04  +2.63
 26  30  539536 WILES Jacqueline 1992 USA  1:46.12  +2.71
 27  26  56088 TIPPLER Tamara 1991 AUT  1:46.14  +2.73
 28  44  515997 FEIERABEND Denise 1989 SUI  1:46.17  +2.76
 29  3  505886 KLING Kajsa 1988 SWE  1:46.32  +2.91
 30  32  56258 AGER Christina 1995 AUT  1:46.34  +2.93
 31  36  197497 MIRADOLI Romane 1994 FRA  1:46.57  +3.16
 32  22  516219 NUFER Priska 1992 SUI  1:46.84  +3.43
 33  45  375018 COLETTI Alexandra 1983 MON  1:46.90  +3.49
 34  37  206460 WENIG Michaela 1992 GER  1:47.04  +3.63
 35  27  299466 DELAGO Nicol 1996 ITA  1:47.06  +3.65
 36  47  206652 PFISTER Meike 1996 GER  1:47.19  +3.78
 37  41  538305 SMITH Leanne 1987 USA  1:47.21  +3.80
 38  40  197295 PIOT Jennifer 1992 FRA  1:47.58  +4.17
 39  50  206759 HIRTL-STANGGASSINGER Katrin 1998 GER  1:47.92  +4.51
 40  35  196812 PELLISSIER Marion 1988 FRA  1:48.01  +4.60
 41  54  35089 SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena 1984 ARG  1:49.63  +6.22
Did not start 1st run
 52  155699 PAULATHOVA Katerina 1993 CZE
 21  297702 MARSAGLIA Francesca 1990 ITA
Did not finish 1st run
 51  426257 LIE Kajsa Vickhoff 1998 NOR
 49  565333 BRODNIK Vanja 1989 SLO
 48  485749 PROKOPYEVA Aleksandra 1994 RUS
 43  206520 DORSCH Patrizia 1994 GER
 42  565320 FERK Marusa 1988 SLO
 38  56224 MAIER Sabrina 1994 AUT
 34  206668 WEIDLE Kira 1996 GER
 29  538685 MCKENNIS Alice 1989 USA
 24  516185 HAEHLEN Joana 1992 SUI
 13  296427 SCHNARF Johanna 1984 ITA
 8  56198 SCHEYER Christine 1994 AUT

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About the Author: Gabbi Hall

A California native, Gabbi moved to Vermont to ski on the NCAA circuit for St. Michael’s College, where she served as team captain and studied journalism. Before joining Ski Racing, she worked as a broadcast TV producer and social media manager in higher education. She can be reached via email at gabbi@skiracing.com