Another day, another win for Vonn
Victory No. 11 for U.S. star at Cortina course breaks Goetschl’s resort record
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY— Another day in Cortina, another record for Lindsey Vonn. The American won a World Cup super-G Sunday for her 11th career victory in Cortina, breaking the resort record of retired Austrian standout Renate Goetschl.
“It’s incredible to think back to when I was racing with Renate — it seemed like she won every single race in Cortina and she seemed unbeatable,” Vonn said. “And to have surpassed her now it’s hard to process all of these records. It’s hard to imagine having more success than my idols.”
By winning a downhill on Saturday, Vonn eclipsed Annemarie Moser-Proell’s mark of 36 career wins in skiing’s marquee event.
And last year in Cortina, Vonn surpassed Moser-Proell’s women’s record of 62 wins across all events.
“This place is incredibly special for me,” Vonn said. “I’ve broken quite a few records here now.”
With another near-perfect run down the Olympia delle Tofane course, Vonn beat Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein by 0.69 seconds, with Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany third, 1.15 back.
Larisa Yurkiw of Owen Sound, Ont., second in Saturday’s downhill, finished 12th.
Vonn made a slight bobble toward the end of her run but was otherwise smooth and error-free, leaning into turns further than other competitors to maintain speed and increasing her lead at each checkpoint.
At the finish, Vonn pumped her fists a few times and pointed at the crowd basking in the sun on another crystal-clear day in the town known as the Queen of the Dolomites Range.
Vonn took the lead in the overall standings from Lara Gut, who fin- ished fifth, and now leads her Swiss rival by 45 points.
Vonn now has 75 wins overall, and is approaching Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time mark — among men and women — of 86.
“When I look back on my career after I’m retired, I’ll really be able to appreciate what I’ve done,” Vonn said. “I can’t really think about it too much at this point because I’ll get distracted. I need to stay focused.”
Vonn’s ski technician Heinze Haemmerle said she’s finally back to where she was before a horrific crash and right knee injury at the 2013 world championships in Schladming, Austria.
“Even stronger,” Haemmerle said. “She can’t stop breaking records.”
Vonn recalled how when she recorded the very first podium result of her career in Cortina12 years ago, she finished third behind then-reigning Olympic downhill champion Carol Montillet and Goetschl.
“I never thought I would make it this far in my career,” Vonn said. “If you would have made a bet, I would have definitely bet against me. Now here I am, so it’s pretty incredible.”
Vonn also holds the record for wins at any single resort with 18 at Lake Louise — giving her a total of 29 victories between Alberta and Cortina.
“That’s a pretty good statistic,” Vonn said. “I think I’ve had more wins in Lake Louise because we usually have three races there. I think if we had more races here it might be a similar statistic.”
For Weirather, meanwhile, it was a bit of revenge after being denied an apparent podium result a day earlier due to strong winds.
“We had a fair race today and I was still angry because of (Saturday),” Weirather said. “I tried to put those emotions into my skiing.”
Rebensburg had trouble landing the final jump coming into the finish, almost did the splits but recovered to hold on to a podium position 0.04 ahead of fourth-place finisher Conny Huetter of Austria.