Vonn, McKennis open World Cup Finals with fastest training runs

By Published On: March 16th, 2015Comments Off on Vonn, McKennis open World Cup Finals with fastest training runs

MERIBEL, France – The World Cup arrived in the French Alps for the last race week, and the ladies were the first in action as they got to test the downhill track on Monday.

Downhill World Cup leader Lindsey Vonn clocked the quickest time down the 2,563-meter track in 1:31.42. Her teammate Alice McKennis came in second, 0.58 seconds behind, while Lara Gut of Switzerland finished third at 0.72 back.

Vonn skipped the giant slalom race in Are, Sweden, in order to train super G in Méribel last week and get a feel for the slope. She wasn’t able to race in Feb. 2013, the last time the World Cup tour stopped in the famed ski resort, as it was right after she sustained her knee injury at the World Championships in Schladming.

“It’s my first time racing downhill on this track,” said Vonn. “It’s always tough to get in the rhythm when you have a brand new course. So I am happy with my run today and definitely looking forward to a lot of racing this week.”

The course was described as fast and open by the athletes.

“I definitely love the speed,” Vonn explained. “That’s something I have always loved. It was a really fun course, it definitely has some terrain in it. Generally speaking, it’s a little bit less turny on the top. There are some key and difficult turns in the middle, but in general it’s a pretty high speed course, which definitely suits my style and also most of the girls on our team.”

“It’s a really good hill,” added McKennis. “It flows very well with the terrain. The top is pretty open and pretty flat, but there are some good rolls. You pick up quite a bit of speed once you get into the steep pitch in the middle. It all links really well. It’s more open than what we are typically used to. It’s kind of fun just to let it go.”

The ladies are scheduled for a second and final downhill training on Tuesday, ahead of Wednesday’s race.

Release courtesy of FIS

Results

 1  20  537544 VONN Lindsey 1984 USA  1:31.42
 2  2  538685 MCKENNIS Alice 1989 USA  1:32.00  +0.58
 3  10  516138 GUT Lara 1991 SUI  1:32.14  +0.72
 4  16  565243 MAZE Tina 1983 SLO  1:32.23  +0.81
 5  6  55690 HOSP Nicole 1983 AUT  1:32.50  +1.08
 6  15  55947 FENNINGER Anna 1989 AUT  1:32.51  +1.09
 7  13  537582 COOK Stacey 1984 USA  1:32.72  +1.30
 8  18  495318 RUIZ CASTILLO Carolina 1981 SPA  1:32.75  +1.33
 9  3  296427 SCHNARF Johanna 1984 ITA  1:33.03  +1.61
 10  11  355050 WEIRATHER Tina 1989 LIE  1:33.09  +1.67
 11  5  296729 FANCHINI Nadia 1986 ITA  1:33.11  +1.69
 12  1  245066 MIKLOS Edit 1988 HUN  1:33.25  +1.83
 13  9  538573 ROSS Laurenne 1988 USA  1:33.43  +2.01
 14  19  56128 HUETTER Cornelia 1992 AUT  1:33.66  +2.24
 15  14  296472 FANCHINI Elena 1985 ITA  1:33.81  +2.39
 16  21  55970 SCHMIDHOFER Nicole 1989 AUT  1:33.86  +2.44
 17  12  515747 GISIN Dominique 1985 SUI  1:33.95  +2.53
 18  8  515766 SUTER Fabienne 1985 SUI  1:33.99  +2.57
 19  17  55576 GOERGL Elisabeth 1981 AUT  1:34.44  +3.02
 20  4  565360 STUHEC Ilka 1990 SLO  1:34.71  +3.29
 21  7  106849 YURKIW Larisa 1988 CAN  1:38.06  +6.64

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