Vonn has career win record in her sights
Victory in France leaves American one win away from tying Austrian legend
VAL D’ISERE, FRANCE— Just four races back and Lindsey Vonn is on the verge of World Cup skiing history.
After clinching a second straight win — and third consecutive podium result — in Saturday’s downhill, the 30-year-old American now has a chance to secure a 62nd career victory in Sunday’s super-G and tie Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proll for the record.
“I have to get there first. If it happens tomorrow, great,” said Vonn, a four-time World Cup champion. “I feel like I have been talking about (the record) for a long time now, and if I keep talking about it, I feel like it’s never going to happen.”
It would have been a distant dream one year ago, however, when she reinjured her troublesome right knee on the same Oreiller-Killy course in Val d’Isere and required surgery for the second time. The first knee operation came after she tore two ligaments following a spectacular fall at the world championships 10 months earlier.
Aside from one small wobble in the middle of the course, Vonn’s run on Saturday was clean. She finished .19 seconds clear of early pace-setter Elisabeth Goergl and Viktoria Rebensburg, who tied for second.
“I trusted my body and my knee held up great,” Vonn said. “No problem, no pain, so all is good.”
The win includes a calf as a prize — which she named Winnie — nine years after her first Val d’Isere triumph.
Lara Gut placed 0.39 behind in fourth place, while overall leader Tina Maze finished half a second adrift in seventh.
After nearly two years without a victory, Vonn won the downhill at Lake Louise, Alta., two weeks ago and finished second in super-G the next day.
“It feels amazing. I was a bit nervous today as I made some mistakes in training. It’s tough when you only have one training run,” Vonn said. “I skied aggressively today. It was definitely tough as we had a lot more speed.”
Prior to her success at Lake Louise, Vonn’s previous World Cup win was a giant slalom in January 2013 in Maribor, Slovenia — and this was only her eighth race since then.
After her injury at the worlds, Vonn tried to get back in time for the Sochi Olympics — only to tear one of the reconstructed ligaments in a training crash.
Then four days before Christmas, she sprained her MCL in Val d’Isere and needed surgery again.