ANOTHER VICTORY FOR VONN
Vail star matches downhill mark
Vail’s Lindsey Vonn has only one peer in World Cup downhill racing — retired Austrian star Annemarie Moser-Proell, 62 — after winning Saturday in Austria. Vonn and Moser-Proell share the record for downhill wins at 36.
altenmarkt-zauchensee, austria» Lindsey Vonn won a women’s World Cup downhill Saturday for her 36th career victory in the discipline, matching Annemarie Moser-Proell’s all-time best mark.
Moser-Proell, who set the record in January 1980, watched the race from the stands — and the 62-yearold Austrian great was among the first to congratulate Vonn, a Vail resident.
“She is so kind,” said Vonn, who broke Moser-Proell’s overall record of 62 victories a year ago in Italy. “I am so glad she’s here today, as she couldn’t be in Cortina last year. It means a lot to me. She is a true legend of our sport.”
Vonn, who now has 72 World Cup wins across all alpine disciplines, already held the record for most super-G victories with 25. That discipline was introduced in the 1980s, after Moser-Proell had retired.
“I am very happy,” said Vonn, competing in her first race of 2016 after taking a break with friends and family members in the U.S. last week. “So far I like the new year.”
Vonn, who held a comfortable lead after the first run, finished with an aggregate time of 2 minutes, 11.17 seconds — one second ahead of Canadian skier Larisa Yurkiw, who earned her third career podium.
Cornelia Huetter of Austria was 1.66 behind in third place. Overall leader Lara Gut of Switzerland failed to finish the opening run and didn’t score points. Gut remains in the lead, 58 points clear of Vonn, going into Sunday’s super-G.
With her third downhill of the season, Vonn extended her lead in the discipline standings. She has 300 points, followed by Heutter at 250.
“It was hard to stay relaxed,” Vonn said of her final run. “It was tough with lots of bumps. I knew many girls had problems, so I chose to ski a rounder line.”
• The men’s World Cup giant slalom Saturday in Adelboden, Switzerland, was canceled because of fog.