Vonn within four wins of tying all-time record
Lindsey Vonn got off to a shaky start this season, crashing twice at Canada’s Lake Louise resort in December, but she is finishing on a roll. With a win Wednesday in downhill at the World Cup finals in Are, Sweden, she won her fourth consecutive downhill and moved only four victories behind Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time record of 86.
Making her win even sweeter, Vonn shared the podium with Alice McKennis of Glenwood Springs, who finished third. It was McKennis’ first World Cup podium since 2013.
Vonn’s victory came in Stenmark’s home country, although the legend whose record was once thought to be unbeatable was not in attendance. She will have one more race, a super-G on Thursday. Of her five wins this season, four were in downhill and one came in a super-G.
The win brought a reminder of how long Vonn has been among the world’s best in the speed events. It was in Are that she won the first two of her seven world championships medals, claiming silver in downhill and super-G in 2007. Vonn has raced there 31 times since 2006, winning seven times.
“Sometimes it’s nice to be old,” Vonn told reporters in the finish area, laughing. “It’s nice to have run this course before. It’s fun to be back and it’s fun to be old at this point, maybe have a slight advantage over the youngsters.”
Vonn, 33, was deprived of breaking another Stenmark record, though. He holds the record for World Cup season titles in a specific discipline — he won eight slalom titles and eight giant slalom titles — and she fell just short of capturing her ninth downhill title. Italy’s Sofia Goggia, with whom Vonn has staged a riveting duel in downhill this season, finished second in Wednesday’s race and that was enough to give her a slim edge for the downhill title, 509 points to 506.
The race was tight, too, as Goggia finished only 0.06 seconds behind.
“It reminds me of the days when Maria (Hoefl-Riesch of Germany) and I were fighting for every single title, every single year,” Vonn said. “Now there’s a new face. Sofia is a great character. She always gives it 110 percent. Sometimes she wins, sometimes she crashes. I feel like it’s very similar to myself. We have a great deal of respect for each other, and it’s been fun competing with her this year, going back and forth (with) the lead, but I’m really happy to have closed the season out with a win and I’m sure she’s very excited to have the title.”
McKennis also is finishing the season strong. She was fifth in the downhill at the Olympics, where Vonn took bronze for her lone medal of the Games.
“I’m obviously incredibly excited, so stoked,” said McKennis, who finished 0.28 seconds behind Vonn with her father watching in the crowd. “It’s been a journey to get here again. To be on the podium again is amazing. I don’t know what to say.