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Vonn .03 Shy of St. Moritz Sweep
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (Jan. 29) - Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) came within .03 of a three-race sweep in St. Moritz to finish second in Sunday's super combined behind defending Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany. Despite missing the top step, Vonn boosted her overall point total to 1,250 for a commanding 387 lead over Tina Maze of Slovenia. Vonn won the opening super combined and the backed it up with a dominating downhill victory on Saturday.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Lindsey Vonn came within .03 of a St. Moritz hat trick to finish second in super combined
· Vonn posted a 280 point weekend to boost her overall point total to 1,250 (387 point lead)
· Additionally Vonn leads the World Cup downhill, super G and super combined standings
· Her two wins this weekend bumped her career World Cup total to 49
· German Maria Hoefl-Riesch won for her first victory this season
· Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR) was 29th after finishing 23rd in the super G portion
· Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) and Leanne Smith (North Conway, NH) skied out in the slalom
· Stacey Cook (Mammoth, CA) went out in the super G and Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO) did not start the slalom
· The race was a reschedule from a canceled December super combined in Val d'Isere, France
· The women's tour now moves to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany for a downhill and super G
QUOTES
Lindsey Vonn
It would have been nice to have a hat trick. I'm really happy for Maria -- but I'd
rather she beat me by a second.
Maria has been sick and it always takes a while when you have setbacks. It wasn't really a surprise for me that she has won.
My skiing was good, my concentration was good, but a series of small mistakes cost me much time. I caught my edges funny a couple of times.
I tried as hard as I could. I would have loved to celebrate my 50th World Cup win here in St Moritz. But victory is not as easy as it seems. I had to ski five hard-fought runs in three days and it's exhausting.
Hopefully, I will get that 50th win in Maria's home in Garmisch.
TV
Universal Sports will air the women's super combined at 1:30 p.m. ET
ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (Jan. 28) - Olympic downhill champion
Lindsey Vonn
(Vail, CO) torched the St. Moritz speed track for a 1.42 second margin of victory
and her career 49th Audi FIS Alpine World Cup win. It was Vonn's eighth win of
the season, second in two days, and extended her World Cup overall lead to
352 points over Slovenia's Tina Maze. Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) was
fifth and Leanne Smith (North Conway, NH) seventh as three Americans
crowded the top 10.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Lindsey Vonn captured a massive 1.42 second margin of victory in the St. Moritz downhill
· It was the 49th World Cup victory of Vonn's career (24th in downhill) and second in two days
· The win ties Vonn with Austrian Renate Goetschl for second on all-time DH wins list
· It was Vonn's first victory in the St. Moritz downhill and her eighth win this season
· Vonn is 352 points ahead of Slovenia's Tina Maze in the overall standings
· She also leads the downhill, super G and super combined standings
· Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) was 5th and Leanne Smith (North Conway, NH) 7th
· It was Smith's career best World Cup finish and moved her inside the DH top 20 standings
· Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR) was 16th and Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO) 25th
· U.S. women lead Austria in the nation's standings for downhill by 344 points
· Vonn will have a chance to sweep the weekend Sunday with a second super combined in St. Moritz
QUOTES
Lindsey Vonn
I've struggled in St. Moritz in the past and for some reason have always made
major mistakes and have never won a downhill here. Today I just tried to stay
really relaxed. I knew where I had to execute the line and I think I did that.
I feel like 50 is a pretty substantial landmark in my career. I'm trying to keep my focus on the race tomorrow. It's going to be a tough super combined because Tina Maze is extremely fast in super G and also in slalom. I have to execute and hopefully if I can do that then number 50 will come. It means a lot to me, so I'm trying not to think about it.
It feels pretty special to tie Renate [Goetschl] for downhill wins, but [Annemarie] Moser-Proell still has a lot more than I do, so I have a long ways to go. She pretty much dominated so I have my work cut out for me.
Leanne [Smith] is skiing extremely well and I'm really happy for her and for Julia [Mancuso] and Laurenne [Ross], everyone is skiing really well. As a team, we're on a roll and it's fun to see all the girls so excited and skiing so well. Every day all of the girls on this team have a chance to be on the podium.
Leanne Smith
It felt good to execute the line and the turns that I wanted to ski. I needed a
downhill result and now I'm really looking forward to next weekend. Hopefully I
can continue this little streak that I'm on.
The feeling on the front of the boot is something that I've been establishing. To be able to push on the front of the ski early, you feel way more stable and you can hold positions and be strong in the core. If you can't tighten the line up in places where you're not in a good position then you can't hold and you can't generate speed.
I'm at a good spot right now and I just want to keep learning and figuring out where I can be faster. It's not just understanding this course, it's understanding how to be better on the turns and how to make up time by getting more out of the gates up ahead of you.
TV
Universal Sports will air the women's downhill at 11 a.m. ET
SCHLADMING, Austria (Jan. 24) -
Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) battled huge ruts
and continuous snowfall to finish sixth in the Schladming night slalom in front
of 45,000 raucous fans as hometown hero Marcel Hirscher won. It was Ligety's
best slalom finish since January of 2011 and launched him back into fourth in
the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup overall standings.
HIGHLIGHTS
· Ted Ligety produced his best slalom finish in over a year with sixth in the Schladming night slalom
· Ligety now sits fourth in the World Cup overall standings
· Austrian Marcel Hirscher claimed his sixth win of the season in front of 45,000 fans
· Croatian Ivica Kostelic was fourth, yet retained his lead in both the overall and slalom standings
· Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) had a planned break from the World Cup and did not start
· Will Brandenburg (Spokane, WA) was disqualified from the first run
· Nolan Kasper (Warren, VT) and Seppi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, WY) did not qualify for the final
· It was the first World Cup start for Stiegler, younger brother to women's alpine Olympian Resi Stiegler
· Jimmy Cochran (Keene, NH), Colby Granstrom (Lake Stevens, WA) and Michael Ankeny (Deephaven, MN) did not finish the first run
· Heavy snow fell throughout the first and second runs creating challenging race conditions
· The men's tour moves to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany for a downhill and super G Jan. 28-29
QUOTES
Ted Ligety
Schladming is a super cool slalom, it always has been like that. You can see
what the crowd is right now, and the second run increases, there are flares
going off. You can hear the crowd sometimes, which never happens in ski races
normally. You're focused, you never hear the crowd. Here you definitely hear it
and feel it. It's cool to be able to race in a place where they really appreciate
what you're doing and appreciate the sport.
My slalom has been coming along this year. It would have been nice to be a little faster in each run, but things are definitely moving in the right direction.
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