World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn, a product of Ski Club Vail, reports regularly from the tour in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, ITALY — Last week we were supposed to make up the downhill we lost because of weather at Lake Louise in December, but the weather here prevented it, and they decided not to make it up later. It’s gone.
It’s pretty brutal for me to lose that downhill. I’ve been really tough to beat at Lake Louise (five wins since December 2004) and here at Cortina as well (six podiums and a win last year). It’s a big bummer to lose that race.
The decision not to make it up somewhere else could really hurt me in the battle for the overall World Cup title. We started off the season with nine slaloms on the schedule and only eight downhills. Now it’s only seven downhills. Because downhill is my best event, that’s a disadvantage for me.
I wish we could at least start off with the same number of slaloms and downhills on the schedule.
It’s a good thing I’ve made great strides in my slalom this year with three podiums — the first World Cup podiums of my career — in slalom. Hopefully I can continue to keep skiing well in slalom, because I’m going to need those points to successfully defend my overall title.
If I was skiing slalom the way I did in past years, I’d be in trouble.
I did pick up 138 points in three races in Cortina — a downhill, giant slalom and super-G — while my closest competitor in the overall, Maria Riesch, had two DNFs and scored only 45 points.
It was a pretty rough week. We had three days in a row where we couldn’t train or race, with foot after foot of snowfall.
I was second in the downhill and felt like I let a win get away. I made two big mistakes that cost me.
The upcoming schedule is grueling. We had a super-G Monday that we were supposed to race last week. We have Tuesday off, but train in Garmisch-Partenkirchen Wednesday, free ski Thursday, race Friday (slalom) and Saturday (super-G). Then we go straight to the world championships that begin next Tuesday in Val d’Isere, France.
