After a three-week tech swing that saw Vonn collect three first-run slalom DNFs,
there was the sweet sound of clicking into the long boards. Downhill and super combined wins at Val d’Isere in mid-December had given Vonn her first overall lead (by
a slim three points) of the season. But after the Christmas break, she gave the lead
right back to her friend Maria Riesch, who promptly exchanged it for a larger 186-
point advantage with two podium finishes during Vonn’s drought.
A stomach flu was partly to blame for Vonn’s slalom woes. She said she thought
she was going to vomit in the Zagreb start house, so it’s no wonder she skied out
seconds later. But the overall globe doesn’t go to the one with the most sick days,
and Vonn kept on.
After finishing second and first in the training runs and calling the course “perfect,”
Vonn took bib No. 20 for a ride. Clouds rolled in that morning and temperatures
climbed to the low 40s by race time, softening the snow. The new conditions were
nearly Vonn’s undoing as she hit a soft spot in the course’s “forest” section and slid
close enough to kiss the nets. But recoveries have become Vonn’s specialty this
season.
“I knew that if I could carry the speed in the next left-footed turn then I could maybe
make some time back on the last couple turns,” she said. “It’s just a matter of keeping my cool; if I make a big mistake knowing that I can make it up with my skiing and
my skis are fast, if I just ski the next part good I can make up the time. I think it’s just
the belief and the cool factor, just staying cool even though you make mistakes is the
most important thing for me at this point.”
No other competitor could match her 1: 46. 39 time.
The local crowd had plenty to cheer as Anna Fenninger (from nearby Hallein), in
the No. 8 bib, put down a run that none of the next nine racers could top. Swedish
veteran Anja Paerson, in the No. 17 bib, spoiled the party coming in just over a half
a second (0.55) faster. Paerson had barely set foot in the leader’s box when Vonn
put a nail in the day, finishing 0.43 seconds faster. It was Paerson’s first podium of
the season and pushed her career total to 93, 20 short of the all-time record held by
Annemarie Moser-Proell.
Paerson said she could feel change in the air after finishing four places higher than
her previous season high. “This is going to be a change for me this season, for sure
coming into world champs,” she told Fisalpine.com. “We have a few more races to
get things perfect with the material. If you want to win against Lindsey and Maria,
you have to be perfect. That I know. This is a step on the way.”
It was Fenninger’s first career downhill podium and her second career World Cup
top-three finish.
Lindsey Vonn takes
a bow after winning
her 20th World Cup
downhill.
