Lindsey Vonn of the United States completed a sweep in Lake Louise by winning Sunday’s super-G. Sergei Belski, USA TODAY Sports Lindsey Vonn reacts after her run during the women’s downhill race in the FIS alpine skiing World Cup at Lake Louise Ski Resort.
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Vonn has swept the three weekend Lake Louise races three times in the last five seasons, though this three-peat was her first since season-ending knee surgeries in 2013 and 2014 that kept her from the Sochi Olympics. This has become extremely repetitive.
A second downhill is scheduled for Saturday followed by Sunday’s super-G.
The 31-year-old American star finished in 1 minute, 50.43 seconds to beat Switzerland’s Fabienne Suter by 1.05 seconds.
“It was a big deal”, Vonn said. “It was my physio Lindsay’s last day with me traveling on the road, so I kind of wanted to end with a bang”, said Vonn.
Sure didn’t seem that way. Courtesy Red Bull In 2011-2012, Vonn surpassed Renate Götschl’s Super G record with 18 victories and took the Austrian’s place in the rankings for most female World Cup wins.
Shiffrin, the Olympic slalom champion and World Cup giant slalom victor, ceded her World Cup overall standings lead to Vonn by four points. I think she’s going to go for it, but I think since it’s her first speed event on the World Cup circuit, she’s going to feel it out, see how it goes.
With Austria’s Anna Fenninger and Slovenia’s Tina Maze not racing this season, the 20-year-old Shiffrin will be one of Vonn’s challengers for a fifth overall crown. “I felt super comfortable, and both of them were left-footed turns into the jumps, so just flattening out the skis the timing was fine”, she noted. “But that’s the thing with skiing – no matter my injuries or my mental state or personal life – I can always come back to skiing, and it always makes me happy”. Shiffrin was 15th in her speed debut, 2.29 adrift of Vonn.
“I still don’t think I’m quite to the form that I was in 2012, the season that I won the four [World Cup] titles”, she told reporters on Saturday.
“I had to push hard”, she said. “Try to learn as much as I can from the other US girls, from Lindsey”. I love the adrenaline. “I definitely got a little bit late on the bottom, got pushed a little bit, but I kept the speed going”.
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“Just because I’m older doesn’t mean I’ve lost any desire to continue to win and to continue to ski fast”. “I was like ‘no, I’m getting the worst luck ever.’ I’ve raced this hill 100 times and I’ve had similar situations where the winds been pretty dramatic and I know it’s still possible to win”.
