By a hair, Vonn misses podium

Click to Enlarge Browse Vail Daily Photos Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during a World Cup super-G event, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Sunday. Vonn finished in fourth place. AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati Get Sports Feeds

By Eliane Engeler
Associated Press
Vail, CO Colorado
February 3, 2008

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ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — If Lindsey Vonn doesn't go on to win the women's World Cup overall title, she might look back on races like Sunday's super-G.

The American came in fourth, missing a podium finish by 0.01 seconds.

"This is like the fifth time that I'm one-hundredth off the podium and it's just a little bit disappointing," she said. "The fourth place is a really hard place to be, especially when it's only one hundredth."

Vonn finished 0.30 behind winner Emily Brydon of Canada, who covered the Corviglia course in 1 minute, 17.39 seconds to earn her first World Cup victory under sunny skies and perfect snow conditions.

Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was second, 0.25 seconds behind Brydon, and teammate Renate Goetschl was third, another 0.04 back.

Vonn moved up slightly in the overall standings and was 89 points behind Austria's Nicole Hosp, who finished sixth.

"It's disappointing to be so close to the podium — yesterday it was seven hundredths," Vonn said of tying for fifth in the downhill in foggy conditions Saturday. "Today just one-hundredth (from third) and five-hundredths away from second place. These races have been so close it'll be hard to look at video and find where I lost a hundredth."

The other Americans might have more to look at when they review their races.

Julia Mancuso finished a disappointing 38th, dropping to eighth in the discipline standings.

"She skied really well. She was on the line," U.S. women's coach Patrick Riml said.

Teammate Libby Ludlow was 27th, posting the second-best American result.

"I was really slow," Ludlow said. "I don't know what it was."

Brydon finally broke through on the course where she finished second in the super-G in December.

"It's like a dream I've had for years," said the 27-year-old Canadian, who has had five third-place finishes in the last eight years. "I just let the skis go and I tried to create as much speed as possible."

Super-G leader Maria Riesch of Germany came in seventh, 0.54 off the pace.

"I haven't had a bad feeling," Riesch said, adding that she lost too much time in the second half of the course.

Hosp leads the overall standings with 957 points. Vonn has 868 and is followed by Riesch with 781.

"On the whole, I'm pleased with my skiing for the weekend," said Vonn, who leads the downhill standings. "Yesterday was hard because of the flat light. ... It turned into a wild ride, and today it was sunny. I made it down without any problems and that's always good."