From the U.S. Ski Team
With two weeks remaining until Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver, 2006 combined gold medalist Ted Ligety, 25, of Park City rocketed to the top of the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup podium Friday with his third consecutive giant slalom win at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
He now leads the World Cup GS standings 352-309 over Massimiliano Blardone of Italy. Ligety is seventh in overall standings with 607 points behind leaders Benjamin Raich of Austria (1,007) and Carlo Janka of Switzerland (897).
After finishing second on the first run, Ligety edged Austria's Marcel Hirscher by 0.34 seconds in the finale before early leader Aksel Lund Svindal fell to fourth. The race was rescheduled from the fog-scratched event originally set for Adelboden, Switz. in early January.
It was the third podium of the season for Ligety, who won the World Cup GS title in 2008. He added a fourth podium with a third-place finish in Saturday's GS.
"It's nice to have this race right before the Olympics. It kind of gives me a little extra confidence boost," said Ligety, whose Rossignol ski tech, Ales Kalamar, is from nearby and enjoys support in Kranjska.
"It's an awesome GS hill with such incredible terrain, so I really like that part of it. Plus, it's always toward the end of the year, and that's when I feel like I'm skiing the best. It always feels good to race here. I really feel blessed to have a hill like this to compete on."
Ligety's win marked the 101st World Cup victory for American men. Two-time overall champion Bode Miller (Franconia, NH), who secured No. 100 with his super combined win in Wengen, Switzerland, never planned to race in Kranjska and is stateside resting his ankle.
"That was pretty impressive," said Men's Slalom Coach Rudi Soulard. "To finish top three two days in a row is great."
Only one GS remains, the World Cup Finals at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
In a good position to peak at the Olympics, Ligety was on his way to a top five Audi FIS Alpine World Cup slalom finish Sunday, before later jury review showed a straddled gate, disqualifying the World Cup giant slalom leader from the race.
Vonn's lead at 137 points
Going into the Vancouver Olympics, American women's ace Lindsey Vonn, 25, of Vail, Colo. is holding a 137-point lead over her good friend and rival Maria Riesch of Germany in the women's overall standings.
Vonn is nearing other records.
She continued her rise into the elite ranks of women's skiers Sunday, notching her ninth win of the season and career 31st Audi FIS Alpine World Cup victory—including five downhill wins and three super giant slalom. She has 10 podiums in the 11 World Cup speed races to date.
Vonn is closing in on the all-time American World Cup winning record of 32 by New Hampshire's Bode Miller, still an active U.S. racer.
At this point, Vonn (17 DH wins, 9 SG, 2 SL and 3 KB) has tied Switzerland's technical whiz Erika Hess for seventh place on the all-time World Cup women's winning list, each with 31 victories. All-time leader is Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria with 62 victories from 1969-80, including a record 36 in downhill.
The all-time men's leader is Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark with 86 wins from 1973-89, including 46 in giant slalom and 40 in slalom. Miller is seventh overall with his 32.
Sunday, in her last race before the Vancouver Olympics, Vonn won her third consecutive World Cup super G to lock up her second straight discipline title at St. Moritz, Switz.
"I skied aggressively and that's exactly what I wanted to do, not only for today, but also to give me confidence going into Vancouver," Vonn said.
With 440 points to 220 for Swiss Fabienne Suter, the two-time defending overall champion assumes an insurmountable lead in the discipline with only two events remaining on the World Cup calendar.
"It's nice to have it out of the way," said U.S. Women's Head Coach Jim Tracy. "None of us gave that any thought whatsoever today. Lindsey didn't even realize it. Still, it's nice to get a crystal globe at the end of January."
A bigger motivation for Vonn was missing the podium in downhill for the first time in seven straight tries Saturday, when a late mistake cost her time and she took fifth.
"It goes back to the last race a bit," Tracy said. "She was a little disappointed, she could have won if it wasn't for that bobble, so she came out today and let her rip."
"I think I bounced back pretty strong," Vonn said. "I stayed positive. I didn't give up and I fought hard." Vonn's ninth win of the season ties her own American record.
"Every year I try to improve myself," Vonn said. "Last year I had nine wins, and this year I have nine with a few more speed races to go, so I'm definitely doing good things and I'm really happy about it."
With the World Cup on hiatus until after Vancouver, the speed team will take a day off before starting their pre-Olympic prep at their European Training Base in Kaprun, Austria, while the technical group will return stateside.
The women's team will arrive in Vancouver Feb. 9 with the opening event on Sunday, Feb. 14 with the Olympic super combined.
Friday, Vonn reached her 11th Audi FIS Alpine World Cup podium of the season, taking third in a super combined won by Sweden's Anja Paerson. Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) was 14th after the American pair went 2-3, respectively, in the first-run super G.
"It was important to make it down not only for the points, but for my mind going into the Olympics, because super combined is the first event," Vonn said. "Now I have that confidence, and I'm definitely going to risk more in the Olympics."
Vonn also holds a 10-point lead in the super combined standings with just one more race after the Olympics for the discipline title. She has the downhill discipline lead as well, 545-416 over Riesch.
On Saturday, Vonn held on for a solid fifth place after a costly mistake in Saturday's downhill, leading an impressive U.S. Team effort that saw seven Americans finish in the points. The two-time defending champion was bounced on a hole that had developed above a hard left boot sidehill turn and got sucked low.
"I'm pretty disappointed with my result," Vonn said. "It was just really unfortunate. I knew the hole was there. I'd gotten it from the coaches and from Thomas (Vonn, her husband). But when I was on course, the light was so flat, I couldn't see anything."
Photo by Getty Images/Agence Zoom-Samo Vdic. Ted Ligety powers to his third straight World Cup giant slalom victory Friday at Kranjska Gora, Slovenia.
