Resurgent Vonn earns victory in super-G
American gets her first World Cup win of a difficult season
VAL D’ISERE, France — With her father proudly watching from the bottom of the slope, Lindsey Vonn sped to an emotional victory in a World Cup super-G race Saturday.
It was her first win of a difficult season so far, one marred by a crash and a recent back injury, and it brought both of them to tears.
Alan Kildow, wearing a white ski hat with the name of the French resort written on it, was tearful as his daughter won 12 years after clinching a downhill victory here — the third win of the record 78 she cherishes.
The 33-year-old American ski star has seven victories and 10 podiums at Val d’Isere, but her father missed the others.
“He’s never been to Val d’Isere,” Vonn said. “It was really cute when he was crying at the finish.”
After Vonn finished 12th in downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta, in early December, a day after crashing in the season-opening downhill, she turned to him for moral support.
“I asked my dad if he could come to some races with me. My dad’s always the one who says, ‘Never, never give up.’ He loves Winston Churchill,” Vonn said. “It’s nice to be able to share these moments with my dad as I approach the end of my career.”
Then it was Vonn’s turn to cry as she struggled to finish her sentence.
“So, I feel really a lot closer to him when we’re together,” she said, her voice breaking with emotion. “When I’m able to ski well, I feel like I do it for him as well.”
On an Oreiller-Killy course shortened because of heavy snowfall over the last two days, the four-time World Cup winner clocked 1 minute, 4.86 seconds. Italian Sofia Goggia placed second in 1:05.17 — her 14th World Cup podium — and Norwegian Ragnhild Mowinckel was third in 1:05.25.
It was Vonn’s first victory since a downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen in January and a welcome relief.
Last Saturday, she jarred her back in a super-G at St. Moritz in Switzerland and finished in 24th place. In clear pain, she pulled out of the next day’s scheduled super-G. That race was canceled, and she went to get some treatment.
Svindal takes his 2nd downhill win in a row
Aksel Lund Svindal dominated the 50th anniversary edition of the Saslong Classic downhill, leading a 1-2 finish by a significant margin ahead of Norwegian teammate Kjetil Jansrud.
For his record sixth victory at Val Gardena, Italy — four superGs and two downhills — Svindal clocked 1 minute, 57 seconds for a 0.59-second advantage over Jansrud. Max Franz, last year’s winner from Austria, finished third, 0.85 back.
It was Svindal’s second consecutive downhill win after a victory at Beaver Creek, Colo., and the 34th victory overall in his World Cup career
The victory put Svindal atop the World Cup overall and downhill standings.
Geisenberger gets 4th luge victory of season
World Cup points leader Natalie Geisenberger of Germany fought through snowy conditions to get her fourth luge victory this season.
Geisenberger finished two runs at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y., in 1 minute, 28.211 seconds for her 42nd career World Cup singles gold medal. Canada took silver and bronze, with Alex Gough second and Kimberley McRae third.
Erin Hamlin was the top American finisher, placing sixth on her home track. Hamlin was third after the first heat but lost time near the top of the track in her second run.
German sleds mine European gold
Francesco Friedrich won a two-man bobsled World Cup race at Innsbruck, Austria, to give Germany its second European title of the day, hours after Stephanie Schneider won the women’s race.
World champion Friedrich and brakeman Thorsten Margis won both heats to finish 0.27 seconds ahead of Justin Kripps and Jesse Lumsden of Canada.
The season’s fifth World Cup also counted as the European Championship, with Clemens Bracher and Michael Kuonen of Switzerland taking the silver medal and Johannes Lochner and Joshua Bluhm of Germany the bronze.
Racing together for the first time, Schneider and Annika Drazek defeated Elana Meyers Taylor and Kehri Jones of the United States by 0.36 seconds. Mariama Jamanka and Lisa-Marie Buckwitz of Germany were 0.01 further behind in third.
In the European Championship, Jamanka and Buckwitz took the silver. Anna Koehler and Ann-Christin Strack finished the race in fifth and completed a German sweep of the medals.