Vail's Vonn takes second

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Vail's Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course to take the second place at a World Cup downhill, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday. AP Photo/Marco Trovati Get Sports Feeds

Daily Staff Report
Vail, CO Colorado
December 15, 2007

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ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — Former Ski & Snowboard Club Vail athlete Lindsey Vonn reclaimed the World Cup downhill points lead Saturday, finishing second in a downhill on the 2003 World Championships course. In a repeat of their 2007 World Championships downhill race, Anja Paerson of Sweden won with Vonn runner-up in single-digit cold.

World champion Paerson posted a winning time of 1 minute, 39.32 seconds. Vonn finished in 1:39.40 and her close friend Maria Riesch of Germany was third. American Julia Mancuso was 10th with teammate Stacey Cook 27th.

“I made a little mistake in the middle section and that cost me the win. I caught an edge and lost my line a little bit. It wasn’t big but with eight-hundredths of a second, it doesn’t take much. On the whole, though, I’m pretty happy with my skiing,” Vonn said.
Vonn plans to spend Christmas in Europe, visiting again with Riesch and her family in Germany.

“Maria’s a good friend and we enjoy hanging out. It was so cool to be on the podium together, although I wish we’d been 1-2 — with me No. 1,” Vonn said. “Her family is always so welcoming to me, so it’ll be a nice holiday.”

After three downhills, Vonn has 230 points to Canadian Britt Janyk’s 182. Vonn won the season’s first downhill in Lake Louise two weeks ago and was fourth at the Aspen Winternational last weekend in Aspen. Overall, Vonn is fifth in the points after nine races.

“There are two sections you have to nail to be fast — in the middle and the lower section. I didn’t get it today, but maybe tomorrow (in the super-G),” Vonn said.
The super-G course was set following the downhill by U.S. Coach Alex Hoedlmoser.
Mancuso skied the upper section well but uncharacteristically had a problem in the middle.

“She usually skis the middle well because it’s a technical part, but she got back on her skis in a key section and that cost Jules speed for the bottom of the run,” Hoedlmoser said. “She’s coming, though. We’re getting some things figured out with her equipment and she’s definitely going in the right direction now.”

The downhill, super-G and combined world champion last season, Paerson had struggled with motivation early in the season and hadn’t done better than seventh place. Her most recent win came in the final super-G race last season in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.

The weekend’s races were moved from Val d’Isere, France, because of poor snow conditions. The women run a super-G Sunday and then head to St. Anton, Austria for a downhill and super combined Dec. 21-22.