Vonn blows away field in Alberta
For second day in a row, American skier races to victory in World Cup downhill
LAKE LOUISE, ALTA. — The speed limit in Banff National Park is 90 km/h along the windy stretch of icy highway that leads to Lake Louise.
American Lindsey Vonn, the world’s fastest woman on skis, reached speeds of 133 km/h Saturday in poor visibility on a bumpy course with jumps that appeared to come out of nowhere.
The most decorated female skier in history ripped over the finish line in one minute, 50.43 seconds to win her second World Cup downhill in many days — this one by a massive margin (in skiing) of 1.05 seconds over Fabienne Suter of Switzerland.
Cornelia Huetter of Austria was third, (1.16 seconds behind Vonn).
“I’m kind of crazy with my car, too,” Vonn said, describing what proved to be a terrifying descent for some of her competitors. “I just trust what my feet are doing and I use my feel instead of my eyes. You may not be able to see everything, but I know what my legs are doing and I don’t second-guess what’s going on.
“Even though I can’t see the ground, I’m still in my tuck trying to go faster.”
In a cloud of flying snow in the finish area, Vonn pumped her fists and screamed: “I love this place.”
With good reason. Her victory Saturday was her 17th at Lake Louise, the most in history for any skier at any venue, and her 69th World Cup win.
The 31-year-old will be back Sunday, trying to sweep all three Lake Louise races for the third time in her career with a victory in the super-G.
Skiing as an independent, Larisa Yurkiw, of Owen Sound, Ont., was the top Canadian in seventh.
“It was a goal of mine to be on the podium for sure,” Yurkiw said. “But there’s a tonne of things that have to come together for that to happen. I think I did a good job today. I just have to keep my chin up and know that was positive.”
Rookie Valerie Grenier, of Mont-Tremblant, Que. finished 43rd.