From the U.S. Ski Team
It was an eventful weekend of alpine ski racing when Audi FIS World Cup racers returned to the 2009-10 circuit at Crans Montana, Switz. for women and Kvitfjell, Norway for the men.
Only one weekend remains—the World Cup Finals March 9-14 at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
Winter Olympic downhill gold medalist Lindsey Vonn, 25, of Vail, Colo. locked up her third consecutive World Cup downhill title Saturday with her sixth win in the discipline this season.
The victory marked Vonn's 10th World Cup win this winter to set a new American single season record. It tied her with Bode Miller, 32, of Franconia, N.H. with 32 career World Cup victories, the most of any American alpine ski racers.
"I'm really happy with the whole season and it's nice to come back to the World Cup and end the season strong," Vonn said.
In her first World Cup race back from the 2010 Olympics where she took the gold in downhill and bronze in super G, Vonn marked off her third discipline title with the win.
But, the downhill title did not come without a fight not only against a talented field of racers, but also the conditions presented by Mother Nature this weekend.
Vonn said, "It was a tough race out there today. There was a lot of changing weather conditions. Sometimes there would be a headwind, sometimes a tailwind, it was snowing really hard and there was a lot of new snow n the track. It was changing a lot from racer to racer."
According to the Olympic champ, the variable conditions made it difficult to know how she was doing during her race. It wasn't until she crossed the finish line that she saw where her skiing had landed her—in first for the sixth time in seven downhills this winter.
With another title waiting on the line for Vonn, who currently sits at the top of the overall World Cup standings, she hopes to be able to keep carrying her momentum through the end of the season.
"I'm going to keep things going through to finals and hopefully I can stay in the lead in the overall," Vonn said.
Staying on track for her third consecutive World Cup overall title included doing well in Sunday's super G in Switzerland. And both Vonn and Olympic silver medalist Julia Mancuso, 26, of Olympic Valley, Ca. had good days at Crans Montana.
They left their mark on Switzerland, going 2-3 in an Audi FIS World Cup super G on Sunday. Switzerland's Dominique Gisin won the race, marking the third World Cup win of her career.
With the runner-up finish, Vonn now has a 245-point lead over Austria's Maria Riesch in the race for the World Cup overall title with only the four events of World Cup Finals remaining this winter. Vonn now has 1,491 points and Riesch 1,246.
Vonn leads the downhill standings 645-456 over Riesch. Prior to Crans Montana, Vonn had already won the super giant slalom globe. She has 520 points to 239 for Austria's Andrea Fischbacher. Vonn also in the combined winner this hear.
Sunday marked the first time Mancuso has appeared on the podium of a World Cup in two years. According to her, it's good to have the momentum from the Olympics to carry her through the season.
"It was nice. I've been skiing well since the Olympics, so it's nice to go and do it in the World Cup, especially in super G. I'm just psyched to be able to put everything together in one run," Mancuso said.
Now, with the team heading to Garmisch for World Cup finals March 9-14, Mancuso is hoping to seal up a few more podiums before the season's end.
"Skiing is going well and I think the snow conditions in Garmisch will be good for me too, it's a little more spring-like. I'm looking to finish the season with podiums," Mancuso said. "I just want to go out there and ski, and I'm feeling really good about my skiing so it makes a big difference just standing in the start gate and enjoying the whole process of it."
Fans can catch the action in Garmisch live on UniversalSports.com beginning with men's and women's downhill on Wednesday, March 10.
The women qualifying for the U.S. at World Cup Finals will be Vonn, Mancuso, Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO), Stacy Cook (Mammoth Mountain. CO) and Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO). Both Vonn and Mancuso can race all disciplines, Cook and McKennis will race downhill and Schleper will compete in the giant slalom and slalom.
Friday, Vonn unofficially clinched the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup super combined title Friday after the third and final race of the 2010 season was canceled due to high winds.
With 160 points tallied from a victory and a third in the only two super combined races staged this season, Vonn will close the year 10 points ahead of Sweden's Anja Paerson for what is likely to be her second World Cup title this season.
Cuche captures men's DH title
Switzerland's Didier Cuche marked down his fifth World Cup victory this season on Saturday, winning the men's downhill in Norway. Steven Nyman (Sundance, UT) led for the U.S. finishing 30th.
On the same day Vonn locked up her title, Cuche solidified his ownership of the 2010 World Cup downhill title with his win in Norway. U.S. Olympic super G bronze medalist Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) suffered a dislocated shoulder when he crashed. According U.S. Ski Team Medical Director Richard Quincy, the injury will take Weibrecht out for the remainder of the season.
It was an abbreviated U.S. Ski Team that competed Saturday on the 1994 Olympic course near Lillehammer where Tommy Moe won his famous Olympic gold and silver. Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) and Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) both sat the race out, nursing ailments from season-long racing.
Canadian Erik Guay made a mark in his record book Sunday as he took the first World Cup super G win of his career in Norway. Travis Ganong (Squaw Valley, CA) led the way for the U.S. finishing 28th.
The race marked a first for Ganong. After competing in only three World Cups so far during his career, Ganong landed himself in the World Cup points for the first time with his 28th place finish.
Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) and Jimmy Cochran (Keene, NH) will represent the men's team during World Cup finals with Ligety skiing in all disciplines and Cochran in slalom. Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) will also make his way to Garmisch to compete, but is nursing injuries and will decide at race time if he can compete.
Ligety presently leads in the Audi FIS World Cup giant slalom and will be seeking his second series title.
In the men's overall standings, Austria's Benjamin Raich leads with 1,019 points and Switzerland's Carlo Janka has 973. Ligety is seventh in the overall with 607 points (Bode Miller is 18th with 361), but Ligety leads the GS standings with 352.
Lindsey Vonn charges to the Audi FIS World Cup downhill title Saturday at Crans Montana, Switz.Photo by Getty Images/AFP-Fabrice Coffrini
