Vail's Vonn wins another DH

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Vail's Lindsey Vonn skis on her way to dominating downhill win a World Cup race on the 2.822-kilometer (1.75-mile) Olympia delle Tofane course, in Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday AP Photo/Marco Trovati Get Sports Feeds

Andrew Dampf
Associated Press
Vail, CO Colorado
January 19, 2008

Comments Print Email

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — Vail's Lindsey Vonn had one of the biggest victories of her career Saturday, easily winning the most prestigious downhill of the women's World Cup circuit.

Vonn covered the 1.75-mile Olympia delle Tofane course in 1 minute, 36.70 seconds, a massive 0.83 seconds ahead of runner-up Anja Paerson of Sweden.

"I've won by more, but I've never won in Cortina before," said Vonn, who registered her fourth victory of the season and 11th in her career.

"This is one of the great classics of the World Cup tour. It's just one of those races that's important to win in your career."

Another American, Julia Mancuso, finished seventh.

Emily Brydon finished third, 1.20 seconds behind Vonn, and Brydon's Canadian teammate Kelly Vanderbeek was fourth.

Renate Goetschl of Austria, who holds a record 10 wins in Cortina, was fifth, 1.26 seconds behind, on an overcast day in the Italian Dolomites.

"I cannot be always the winner," Goetschl said. "For sure it was not my best run. I'm going to have to change something."

Goetschl is winless this season.

"To beat her is pretty cool," Vonn said.

Vonn increased her lead at every interval and made virtually no mistakes.

"Four years ago I had my first podium here," Vonn said. "It definitely means a lot to me to win in Cortina."

Last season, Vonn fell twice during the downhill here.

"Today I just tried to ski my best but not too much," Vonn said. "I know I can ski faster."

The victory also solidified Vonn's lead in the downhill standings. She has won three of the five downhills this season and has 430 points. Britt Janyk of Canada, who finished sixth Saturday, is second with 264 points.

"It looks good, finally," Vonn said. "The last few years I started off well but then had problems. Hopefully this year I can hold on to the end."

Nicole Hosp of Austria still leads the overall standings with 699 points. Vonn moved from fourth to second with 638 points.

With Brydon, Vanderbeek and Janyk, Canadian skiers took three of the top six spots.

"It's all about momentum and confidence," Brydon said. "It's an individual sport but we work well as a team. Any one of us can be on the podium on any given day.