Lindsey Vonn didn't have a very good weekend at St. Moritz, Switzerland but the reigning World Cup overall women's queen from Minnesota has got to be feeling pretty good about her 2008-09 chances going into the holiday break.
Vonn, 24, the current downhill and slalom leader, maintained her overall World Cup lead 438 to 400 over Finland's Tanja Poutiainen despite failing to finish Friday's St. Moritz super combined and also Saturday's short super giant slalom on the Switzerland slope.
High winds canceled Sunday's St. Moritz downhill, which means two of the three women's DHs this season have been postponed and need to be rescheduled for later dates.
Vonn's downhill success last winter lifted the 5-10, 160-pounder to her first World Cup overall title. She won the DH globe by 307 points and grabbed the overall championship by 220 over Austria's Nicole Hosp. Vonn is shooting to become the first-ever U.S. women's repeat overall queen in 2009.
Along with her husband Thomas, Vonn planned to spend Christmas with German skier and best friend Maria Riesch's family in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Riesch (378 point) currently stands in third place in the overall standings.
The women's World Cup picks up Dec. 28-29 at Semmering, Austria with a giant slalom and slalom.
Ligety moves past Bode
Park City's Ted Ligety, 24, moved past 31-year-old Bode Miller in the World Cup men's overall standings with a couple of strong efforts during last weekend's races at Val Gardena and Alta Badia, Italy.
Ligety finished 12th in Monday's slalom and fourth in Sunday's giant slalom, both times emerging as the top Yank. Squaw Valley's Marco Sullivan, 28, matched his career best result with a fifth in Friday's super giant slalom.
The chief American bragging point for the weekend was putting five skiers in the top 10 of Saturday's Val Gardena downhill. It was the first time ever that five U.S. skiers had finished in a World Cup top 10.
Downhill runner-up Miller was followed by fourth-place Sullivan, seventh-place Erik Fisher of Middleton, Idaho, ninth-place Steven Nyman and 10th-place TJ Lanning. Fisher started 52nd in downhill, a day after placing in a World Cup top 20 for the first time (20th place) in Friday's SG.
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, 26, kept the World Cup men's lead 430-393 over Benjamin Raich of Austria. Top American is Ligety (10th with 279 points) and reigning World Cup men's king Miller stayed in 12th place with 240 points.
Men resume with downhill Dec. 28 at Bormio, Italy.
U.S. racer Julia Mancuso clears a gate on her way to 13th place in the St. Moritz super giant slalom Saturday in Switzerland. Photo by Getty Images/AFP-Fabrice Coffrini
