Are Tarvisio
Julia Mancuso catches some air on the way to a second-place finish in the Tarvisio super G.
Laurenne Ross marked a career high with a fourth-place performance in the super G.
is skiing really well so I figured if I had a good season and try to
win more next year. I think if I keep up with the good results, it can
be a challenge for me to try to be top three in the super G and the
downhill and also overall. I’m going to really try to give myself that
challenge and pick up as many points as I can.”
The day’s top 10 was filled with tightly-packed, well-qualified women as Paerson finished 0.72 back in fifth, Goergl was 0.74 seconds
of the pace in sixth and Maze was another two-hundredths of a
second adrift in seventh.
The good news for the U.S. continued further down the results
sheet as Smith again matched the third-best result of her career in
11th. Cook was the fifth American to score in 26th.
With her 41st World Cup win, Vonn closed the gap in the overall
title race to 96 points (1676-1580). It was the first time Riesch’s
GEPA
lead on Vonn had been down to double digits since late December,
when Riesch jumped 121 points ahead of Vonn a day after taking
the lead. Six races remain on this season’s World Cup calendar
as Vonn continues to fight from behind for her fourth consecutive
overall globe and Riesch seeks her first.
“It’s still possible but I would say that it’s not likely,” said Vonn. “I
have to keep fighting through the technical events and try not to
lose ground on her. Don’t get me wrong; there is still a chance, but
it’s not a big one. The odds are not on my side — it’s still Maria’s
title to lose.”
For the moment, Vonn was enjoying the globes she had won after
a stellar weekend.
“I’m really proud of all of [all my titles],” she said. “They’ve all been
hard to win this year; the competition has been tough,” said Vonn.
“There have been some bumps in the road this season. The World
Championships were a really hard time for me; I struggled a lot
with the concussion but I’m really happy to be back to my usual self
and I’m able to ski the way I want to right now.”
The U.S. celebration continued into the hotel as the women got a
chance to cheer for their teammate Nolan Kasper, who earned his
first World Cup podium just a few miles down the road in Kranjska
Gora.
“All the girls were in the hotel lobby watching Nolan’s run,” said
Vonn. “We were so fired up. The whole restaurant was staring at us
— we were screaming pretty loud. The team right now is incredible;
we have a lot of young skiers that are coming up. I think we’re all
building off of each other and we’re all learning from each other and
pushing each other and the results are getting better and better.”
SkiRacing.com MARCH 17, 2011 | 30
