Vonn edges Riesch for back-to-back super G wins in Cortina, Mancuso fourth

American Lindsey Vonn won her second World Cup super G in three days today (Jan. 23) in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, edging Germany’s Maria Riesch, her rival in the overall standings, by just five hundredths of a second.

Racers and fans were treated to a third consecutive day of beautiful sunshine in the breathtaking Dolomite Range as today’s picturesque start was positioned just above the Schuss Pomedes – a narrow gap between two massive rock walls.

Vonn, third in yesterday’s downhill won by Riesch, shook off her recent habit of needing dramatic recoveries to finish speed races and accomplished her goal of putting together a clean run to earn her sixth victory of the season and fourth in the super G. The Vail, Colo. native’s latest heart-stopping save came in yesterday’s downhill when she narrowly avoided going into the safety netting and tweaked her left knee on the way to finishing third. “It was tough to charge today because my knee was really sore,” she said. “Mentally, I just had to put it out of my head – every point is so important right now.” It was Vonn’s fifth win and 11th World Cup podium in Cortina. 

“I’ve always like the Tofane track, it was actually where I got my first podium,” said Vonn, who first landed on the Cortina podium in 2004. “I’ve always had a great feeling on the hill and the snow is always perfect and it’s usually sunny and beautiful. I always have fun.”

Riesch, who was the 17th racer down the course, finished with a time of one minute, 22.69 seconds and held a 0.83-second lead on the field prior to being dethroned by Vonn, the next racer up, before she could set foot in the leader’s box. Today’s result marks her 11th World Cup podium of the season. “I’m satisfied with my weekend,” Riesch told reporters. “It’s tough to beat Vonn in the speed events and I won on Saturday and was second today.”

Almost a full second behind the leading duo was third-place finisher, Swiss Lara Gut, who gave her competition a peek at the right line early as she took the No. 8 bib down the 45-gate Olympia delle Tofane course set by U.S. coach Chip White in one minute, 23.52 seconds, giving her a 0.53 second lead that held through the next 10 racers. Gut, winner of a super G two weeks ago in Zauchensee, Austria, is the only woman to win a World Cup speed race this season not named Vonn or Riesch as the pair have combined to take nine of ten downhill and super G races this season.

The win brought Vonn 20 points closer to Riesch in the overall standings. Reisch now leads 1232 to 1087 just more than halfway through the season which will be interrupted next month by the World Championships in Riesch’s hometown of Garmisch. Austrian Elisabeth Goergl (seventh today) stands third in the overall rankings with 628 points. Vonn leads Riesch in the super G (380-229 ) and downhill (420-357) rankings.

“This weekend went really well, I’m really happy with all the results,” said Vonn. “I’m looking forward to Sestriere, I’m just going to try to do the same thing, have good, solid, aggressive and clean runs and try not to have mistakes and we’ll see what happens. All I can do is my best and hope the results will be favorable.  

American Julia Mancuso (second in yesterday’s downhill) finished 1.15 seconds off the winning pace in fourth today to match her result in Friday’s super G and earn her sixth top-five result of the season. Mancuso had an impressive recovery of her own in the middle of the course when she barley made a tight right hand turn on one ski.

“I’ve always liked Cortina so it was nice to just relax and have fun skiing,” said Mancuso, who collected her seventh podium here. “It’s tough racing against Lindsey and Maria because they’re so fast, you really just have to risk a lot and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn’t.”

Mancuso, a three-time Olympic medalist, continues to strive for the top of the podium. Her last World Cup win came in 2007 (Tarvisio downhill).

“I’m still always trying to look for the podium and trying especially to win races,” she said. “Right now, with how well both Lindsey and Maria are skiing, you have to have a really good run. Today I took a couple really big risks and had kind of a sketchy run but that is kind of how I’m looking at it. I’m definitely trying to win. It’s hard.”

Swede veteran Anja Paerson was three hundredths of a second behind Mancuso in fifth.

The U.S. Team had two more scoring result as Laurenne Ross bounced back from a tough crash in yesterday’s downhill to finish 21st and Leanne Smith (eighth in Friday’s super G) took 22nd. Chelsea Marshall just missed the points in 31st.

“It was a perfect day in Cortina again with perfect conditions and sunny weather,” said U.S. head coach Alex Hoedlmoser. “The girls were skiing well. Lindsey did a really good job and Julia also is skiing really well. The team is performing, they all know they can be in there, the whole atmosphere is good and everybody is pushing a little bit harder now.” 

“I think our whole team is skiing incredibly well, we are showing a lot of depth,” said Vonn. “It’s great to be part of a team that’s doing so well and I think we’re feeding each other and giving each other confidence. I think team work is the reason why we are doing so well.”

Canadian Britt Janyk led the Canadian women, as she’s done all season, in ninth place, 1.78 seconds off the leading pace.“The coaches and staff really believe in me and they are behind me 100 percent so it’s good to know that I have that,” said Janyk. “In the last two days there were a few places where I was missing speed and I watched a lot of video and analyzed where I could be faster. I knew it was something I could fix so I didn’t let it get me down. It’s easy to let the other results go and move forward with the next races.”

Elena Curtoni led the Italians in 10th as the home team saw five women score World Cup points.

Today’s DNF list (17 racers total) claimed more than its share of top-10 regulars. Austrians Anna Fenninger, Andrea Fischbacher and Nicole Hosp as well as Slovenian Tina Maze and Italian Daniela Merighetti were all taken out of contention after skiing off course. One tricky move near the bottom of the course – a tight right hand turn just after a small jump – spoiled several racers’ days including Hosp, Merighetti and her Italian teammate Elena Fanchini, who hooked the gate and fell hard but was able to ski down. American Stacey Cook was eliminated after ducking under the panel of the same gate.

“Stacey didn’t finish but at the last split she was pretty much on pace for a top-10 result,” said Hoedlmoser. “She skied exceptionally well and was just pushing it a little bit too hard.”  

The women’s World Cup now moves to Sestriere, Italy with a downhill scheduled for Saturday Jan. 29 and a super combined on Sunday Jan. 30. — Eric Williams

Images by Gepa

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women’s super G Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 23, 2011
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Vonn,  Head/Head/Head
2 Riesch, Head/Lange/Head
3 Gut, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
4 Mancuso, Voelkl/Lange/Marker
5 Paerson, Head/Head/Head
6 Mader, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker
7 Goergl, Head/Head/Head
8 Rebensburg, Nordica/Nordica/Marker
9 Janyk, Volkl/Lange/Marker
10 Curtoni, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic

Women’s World Cup super G, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Jan. 23, 2011. … It is the 22nd race of the womens’ 39 race
2011 World Cup schedule, the 20th held. … It is the fourth of seven scheduled super G’s, the last prior to the World Championships. … It is the 81st World Cup hosted at Cortina. … The 24th super G.

It is the 39th career World Cup victory for Lindsey Vonn, extending her U.S. record. … It is her 13th super G win putting her third all time among women behind Renate Goetschl (17) and Katja Seizinger (16). … It is her fifth career win at Cortina (and 11th podium) second win and third podium at Cortina this season. … It is the 220th U.S. World Cup win. … and 25th in super G. … It is the ninth U.S. World Cup win at Cortina. … It is the ninth U.S. win this season.

It is the 53rd career World Cup podium for Maria Riesch. … her tenth in super G. … and her fifth at Cortina (3rd in SG at Cortina). … It is the 15th time Riesch and Vonn have finished one-two in a World Cup race. … It is her 11th Cup podium result this season. … 2nd in SG.

It is the sixth career World Cup podium for Lara Gut. … her second in SG having won at Altenmarkt previously this season. … It is her third podium of the season having also placed second in DH at Val d’Isere Dec. 18.

It is the 31st career World Cup top four for Julia Mancuso. … the third time she has finished fourth this season and the second time at Cortina in SG this season. … It matches her seventh best SG result. … She had been fourth or better at Cortina nine times. … It is the 27th career top 10 for Britt Janyk. … the second time this season, both in SG. … It is her fourth best career Cortina result. … It is the tenth career World Cup scoring result for Laurenne Ross and eighth of the season. … Leanne Smith matches her 11th best of 22 Cup scoring results. … It is her eighth score of the season.

Riesch leads the World Cup overall standings 1232-1087 over Vonn. … Elisabeth Goergl (7th in race) is third overall with 628pts. … Marie-Michele Gagnon (did not race) is the top Canadian overall in 31st with 131pts. … Vonn leads the super G standings 380-229 over Riesch. … Gut is third with 205pts and Mancuso fourth with 175. … Janyk is the top Canadian in 15th with 67pts. … Austria leads the women’s Nations Cup 2992-2428 over Germany. … The U.S. is third at 2040. … Canada tenth at 305pts.

More to come

Rank	Bib	FIS Code	Name	Year	Nation	Total Time	FIS Points
1	18	537544	VONN Lindsey	1984	USA	1:22.64	0.00
2	17	206001	RIESCH Maria	1984	GER	1:22.69	0.64
3	8	516138	GUT Lara	1991	SUI	1:23.52	11.29
4	19	537545	MANCUSO Julia	1984	USA	1:23.79	14.75
5	21	505483	PAERSON Anja	1981	SWE	1:23.82	15.14
6	6	55766	MADER Regina	1985	AUT	1:24.09	18.60
7	16	55576	GOERGL Elisabeth	1981	AUT	1:24.25	20.65
8	4	205218	REBENSBURG Viktoria	1989	GER	1:24.29	21.16
9	27	106022	JANYK Britt	1980	CAN	1:24.42	22.83
10	34	297910	CURTONI Elena	1991	ITA	1:24.47	23.47
11	9	515747	GISIN Dominique	1985	SUI	1:24.53	24.24
12	10	196460	MARCHAND-ARVIER Marie	1985	FRA	1:24.63	25.53
13	26	505632	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1984	SWE	1:24.68	26.17
14	2	195983	ROLLAND Marion	1982	FRA	1:24.81	27.83
15	7	295533	RECCHIA Lucia	1980	ITA	1:24.87	28.60
16	11	195671	JACQUEMOD Ingrid	1978	FRA	1:24.90	28.99
17	25	495318	RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina	1981	SPA	1:24.94	29.50
18	29	515806	KAMER Nadja	1986	SUI	1:24.95	29.63
19	3	296427	SCHNARF Johanna	1984	ITA	1:25.12	31.81
20	43	297601	BRIGNONE Federica	1990	ITA	1:25.19	32.71
21	35	538573	ROSS Laurenne	1988	USA	1:25.24	33.35
22	24	538305	SMITH Leanne	1987	USA	1:25.35	34.76
23	5	515560	SCHILD Martina	1981	SUI	1:25.40	35.40
24	46	296431	STUFFER Verena	1984	ITA	1:25.43	35.79
25	45	425880	SEJERSTED Lotte Smiseth	1991	NOR	1:25.54	37.20
26	42	55759	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1985	AUT	1:25.84	41.05
27	41	55913	MOSER Stefanie	1988	AUT	1:25.95	42.46
28	1	206175	STECHERT Gina	1987	GER	1:26.03	43.48
29	47	197006	GAUTHIER Marine	1990	FRA	1:26.05	43.74
30	52	196968	BAILET Margot	1990	FRA	1:26.17	45.28
31	44	538038	MARSHALL Chelsea	1986	USA	1:26.24	46.18
32	15	515849	DETTLING Andrea	1987	SUI	1:26.37	47.84
33	32	55978	VOGLREITER Mariella	1989	AUT	1:26.39	48.10
34	37	55882	STAUDINGER Christina	1987	AUT	1:26.69	51.95
35	40	565320	FERK Marusa	1988	SLO	1:26.72	52.33
36	53	106825	PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier	1988	CAN	1:27.10	57.21
37	38	297134	BORSOTTI Camilla	1988	ITA	1:27.94	67.98
38	55	35079	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	1982	ARG	1:31.04	107.74
Disqualified 1st run
	33	297195	HOFER Anna	1988	ITA
Did not start 1st run
	54	225308	THORBURN Pamela	1986	GBR
Did not finish 1st run
	57	495763	JARDI Andrea	1990	SPA
	56	375018	COLETTI Alexandra	1983	MON
	51	105920	SIMMERLING Georgia	1989	CAN
	50	537582	COOK Stacey	1984	USA
	49	206323	STIEPEL Isabelle	1990	GER
	48	515997	FEIERABEND Denise	1989	SUI
	39	297702	MARSAGLIA Francesca	1990	ITA
	36	297153	CIPRIANI Enrica	1988	ITA
	31	296008	MERIGHETTI Daniela	1981	ITA
	30	55806	ALTACHER Margret	1986	AUT
	28	296472	FANCHINI Elena	1985	ITA
	23	55690	HOSP Nicole	1983	AUT
	22	515766	SUTER Fabienne	1985	SUI
	20	55750	FISCHBACHER Andrea	1985	AUT
	14	565243	MAZE Tina	1983	SLO
	13	515573	AUFDENBLATTEN Fraenzi	1981	SUI
	12	55947	FENNINGER Anna	1989	AUT