Vonn Silences Doubters with Win in Val d’Isere

By Published On: December 16th, 2017Comments Off on Vonn Silences Doubters with Win in Val d’Isere

Given her age and recent injuries, some fans have said that Lindsey Vonn should retire and let younger athletes have their turn on the World Cup. The American responded to those comments loud and clear with a victory in the Val d’Isere super-G on Saturday, which replaced the canceled race in St. Moritz.

“I guess that I’m not a washed up old hag anyways!” she joked after her win. “I think I proved myself, and karma definitely comes back around, and I’ve got some good karma coming my way.”

This marks Vonn’s 78th World Cup victory, increasing her record for most wins for women ever and putting her eight wins away from tying Ingemar Stenmark’s elusive all-time wins record. This comes just a week after she was collapsed in the St. Moritz finish area with excruciating back pain.

“I was a little bit stiff, for sure,” the American explained. “I was kind of expecting it, honestly, to be a little bit better than it was, and I think it the first few gates you could see that in my skiing. It was a little bit stiff, but then I got into it and I really let the skis go, especially tried to push on the bottom part of the course, taking all the speed through to the finish and I almost went down there right before the finish, but thankfully I held onto it and was able to pull it out.”

Image Credit: GEPA /Mathias Mandl

Vonn’s win was not the only surprise for fans. During the U.S. speed team’s annual White Elephant gift exchange earlier in the week, Head Coach Paul Kristofic walked away with a unicorn onesie and a bet. If one of the U.S. women got on the podium, he would wear the outfit to the awards ceremony. Not one to go back on his word, Kristofic skied from his position on the hill to the finish in costume.

The U.S. team was not the only crew with something to celebrate. It was a big day for Sofia Goggia of Italy and Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway, who joined Vonn on the podium.

Goggia, who had a breakout season in 2016-17, has had a tough time getting back on the podium this year. However, in Val d’Isere, she seems to have gotten her groove back and earned second place.

“You said it,” the Italian said. “I have the groove back, but only a little bit because actually I didn’t feel so good especially on the first part of this race. I just skied down without pushing. And from the half to the bottom, I just tried to push as hard as I could, but on this snow, you never know because it’s really soft, and you have to find a good balance between pushing and letting it go. But I’m really happy. I wasn’t expecting for a podium.”

Norway’s Mowinckel stepped onto the World Cup podium for the first time in her career. The Attacking Viking was over the moon, wearing a contagious smile as she went from interview to interview. She shared that the only thing going through her head was fireworks. The Norwegian continued to say that despite challenging conditions like soft snow and flat light, she had a good feeling from the get go.

“From the start, from seeing the course and actually being surprised by how much they’d done and how good it was, I was thinking this might be a great day,” Mowinckel said. “At least, I’m giving it my best shot and we’ll take it from there, and I feel like I did that and it took me here, so I’m very happy about it.”

As the Norwegian put it, she has a track record of performing well in snowy conditions. In the giant slalom at Semmering last year, she was fourth.

“It was snowing like cats and dogs,” she recalled. “But today, its not that bad, but still though, it either has to be really, really bad for me to ski fast or kind of like now.”

Mowinckel continued to say that she hopes she’ll be able to perform well in all conditions. Fans should be on the lookout for her tomorrow as she looks to improve on her result.

Aside from Vonn, a few other American women had strong performances. In her second race back from injury, Laurenne Ross skied to an eight-place result.

“Today was definitely a another big step, and I feel really good to be back and be back in race mode,” Ross said.

Alice McKennis skied to 22nd, and Ski Racing Media’s Junior of the Year Alice Merryweather scored her first World Cup points with a 24th place finish.

Racing action in Val d’Isere continues on Sunday with another super-G.


Top 10

  1. Lindsey Vonn (USA) –  Head / Head / Head
  2. Sofia Goggia (ITA) – Atomic / Atomic / Atomic
  3. Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR) –  Head / Head / Head
  4. Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT) –  Fischer / Fischer / Fischer
  5. Joana Haehlen (SUI) – Rossignol / Look / Rossignol
  6. Johanna Schnarf (ITA) – Fischer / Fischer / Fischer
  7. Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) – Stoeckli / Lange / Marker
  8. Laurenne Ross (USA) –  Voelkl / Marker / Dalbello
  9. Lara Gut (SUI) –  Head / Head / Head
  10. Michelle Gisin (SUI) –  Rossignol / Look / Rossignol

Official Results

 1  6  537544 VONN Lindsey 1984 USA  1:04.86  0.00  100.00
 2  15  298323 GOGGIA Sofia 1992 ITA  1:05.17  +0.31  5.16  80.00
 3  16  425929 MOWINCKEL Ragnhild 1992 NOR  1:05.25  +0.39  6.49  60.00
 4  5  55970 SCHMIDHOFER Nicole 1989 AUT  1:05.53  +0.67  11.16  50.00
 5  4  516185 HAEHLEN Joana 1992 SUI  1:05.56  +0.70  11.66  45.00
 6  8  296427 SCHNARF Johanna 1984 ITA  1:05.68  +0.82  13.65  40.00
 7  17  205218 REBENSBURG Viktoria 1989 GER  1:05.74  +0.88  14.65  36.00
 8  2  538573 ROSS Laurenne 1988 USA  1:05.83  +0.97  16.15  32.00
 9  9  516138 GUT Lara 1991 SUI  1:05.86  +1.00  16.65  29.00
 10  20  516284 GISIN Michelle 1993 SUI  1:05.93  +1.07  17.82  26.00
 11  21  197497 MIRADOLI Romane 1994 FRA  1:05.94  +1.08  17.98  24.00
 12  12  516319 SUTER Corinne 1994 SUI  1:05.98  +1.12  18.65  22.00
 13  28  197383 GAUTHIER Tiffany 1993 FRA  1:06.06  +1.20  19.98  20.00
 14  31  56088 TIPPLER Tamara 1991 AUT  1:06.18  +1.32  21.98  18.00
 15  14  55947 VEITH Anna 1989 AUT  1:06.21  +1.35  22.48  16.00
 16  11  297601 BRIGNONE Federica 1990 ITA  1:06.25  +1.39  23.15  15.00
 17  23  56174 HAASER Ricarda 1993 AUT  1:06.27  +1.41  23.48  14.00
 18  19  516248 FLURY Jasmine 1993 SUI  1:06.28  +1.42  23.64  13.00
 19  24  516219 NUFER Priska 1992 SUI  1:06.35  +1.49  24.81  12.00
 20  3  56177 VENIER Stephanie 1993 AUT  1:06.38  +1.52  25.31  11.00
 21  35  297195 HOFER Anna 1988 ITA  1:06.47  +1.61  26.81  10.00
 22  36  538685 MCKENNIS Alice 1989 USA  1:06.48  +1.62  26.98  9.00
 23  10  296729 FANCHINI Nadia 1986 ITA  1:06.84  +1.98  32.97  8.00
 24  42  6535600 MERRYWEATHER Alice 1996 USA  1:06.89  +2.03  33.80  7.00
 25  18  56198 SCHEYER Christine 1994 AUT  1:06.91  +2.05  34.14  6.00
 26  37  197641 GAUCHE Laura 1995 FRA  1:06.93  +2.07  34.47  5.00
 27  34  56217 BRUNNER Stephanie 1994 AUT  1:07.05  +2.19  36.47  4.00
 27  13  196928 WORLEY Tessa 1989 FRA  1:07.05  +2.19  36.47  4.00
 29  29  56087 SIEBENHOFER Ramona 1991 AUT  1:07.19  +2.33  38.80  2.00
 30  48  197295 PIOT Jennifer 1992 FRA  1:07.21  +2.35  39.13  1.00
 31  30  299276 BASSINO Marta 1996 ITA  1:07.22  +2.36  39.30
 32  45  206652 PFISTER Meike 1996 GER  1:07.46  +2.60  43.29
 33  54  206668 WEIDLE Kira 1996 GER  1:07.47  +2.61  43.46
 34  33  537582 COOK Stacey 1984 USA  1:07.49  +2.63  43.79
 35  32  56417 FEST Nadine 1998 AUT  1:07.54  +2.68  44.63
 36  51  506701 HOERNBLAD Lisa 1996 SWE  1:07.59  +2.73  45.46
 37  56  296472 FANCHINI Elena 1985 ITA  1:07.64  +2.78  46.29
 38  26  6535455 JOHNSON Breezy 1996 USA  1:07.72  +2.86  47.62
 39  43  107532 TOMMY Mikaela 1995 CAN  1:07.89  +3.03  50.45
 40  53  299466 DELAGO Nicol 1996 ITA  1:08.29  +3.43  57.11
 41  50  298767 SOSIO Federica 1994 ITA  1:08.52  +3.66  60.94
 42  40  516394 SUTER Jasmina 1995 SUI  1:08.93  +4.07  67.77
 43  60  515997 FEIERABEND Denise 1989 SUI  1:09.04  +4.18  69.60
 44  44  197215 MASSIOS Marie 1992 FRA  1:09.06  +4.20  69.94
 45  25  537545 MANCUSO Julia 1984 USA  1:10.42  +5.56  92.58
Did not finish 1st run
 61  465098 CAILL Ania Monica 1995 ROU
 59  25194 PALLAS Carmina 1996 AND
 58  115115 BARAHONA Noelle 1990 CHI
 57  506718 IVARSSON Lin 1996 SWE
 52  245066 MIKLOS Edit 1988 HUN
 41  375018 COLETTI Alexandra 1983 MON
 39  206460 WENIG Michaela 1992 GER
 38  516344 KOPP Rahel 1994 SUI
 22  539536 WILES Jacqueline 1992 USA
 7  355050 WEIRATHER Tina 1989 LIE
Disqualified 1st run
 1  56128 HUETTER Cornelia 1992 AUT
Did not start 1st run
 55  45331 SMALL Greta 1995 AUS
 49  385096 POPOVIC Leona 1997 CRO
 47  705394 KANTOROVA Barbara 1992 SVK
 46  565320 FERK Marusa 1988 SLO
 27  107613 GRENIER Valerie 1996 CAN

Share This Article

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