CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Even with an eighth-place finish in a super-G on Monday, Lindsey Vonn increased her lead in her bid to repeat as overall World Cup champion.
Vonn wasn’t satisfied with her run, though, and placed the blame on her ski man.
“I think we missed the wax (Monday), because I had a perfect run,” Vonn said. “That would have normally won me the race.”
Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden posted her first World Cup victory, taking advantage of soft snow that hampered the race favorites.
Lindell-Vikarby sped down the 1.15-mile Olympia delle Tofane course in 1 minute, 25.13 seconds. Anna Fenninger of Austria finished second, 0.81 seconds behind, and Andrea Dettling of Switzerland was third, 0.87 back.
“My skis always work really well on this type of snow,” Lindell-Vikarby said. “I didn’t make any mistakes. I was really fast on top, especially at that one gate where everyone got pushed around.”
Vonn’s main rivals in the overall, Maria Riesch and Anja Paerson, both fell and did not finish. Neither was seriously injured.
“In the end, we got lucky,” Vonn said. “It was a strange race.”
Vonn has not won a super-G in two years.
“I really feel confident on this hill in super-G, and I skied absolutely perfect,” Vonn said. “I mean I was pushing the line. I was clean everywhere. I was tucking everywhere. The skis were definitely not running today.”
Yet Lindell-Vikarby uses the same ski brand as Vonn — Rossignol.
Vonn skied immediately after Lindell-Vikarby, and lost time to the Swede at every interval despite no visible errors.
“We have to analyze,” said Niclas Cronsell, Vonn’s ski man of the past three seasons. “(Lindell-Vikarby) has the same brand, but we don’t know what’s under it. I have my ideas.”
Still, Vonn leads the overall standings with 914 points. Riesch is next with 810 points.
Nadia Fanchini of Italy finished fifth and moved to the top of the super-G standings with 205 points.
• Vonn, Bode Miller and Julia Mancuso will lead the U.S. team at the Feb. 3-15 World Alpine Ski Championships in Val d’Isère, France.
Also selected to the men’s team were Ted Ligety, Marco Sullivan, Steven Nyman, Jimmy Cochran, Erik Fisher, Tim Jitloff, Andrew Weibrecht and Jake Zamansky.
The women’s team consists of Vonn, Mancuso, Stacey Cook, Hailey Duke, Chelsea Marshall, Megan McJames, Sarah Schleper and Resi Stiegler.
Albrecht remains in coma
INNSBRUCK, Austria — Swiss skier Daniel Albrecht will be kept in an induced coma until his lungs have sufficiently recovered from injuries suffered in a training accident Thursday, the Innsbruck University hospital said.
Albrecht, 25, remains in stable condition, and doctors at the hospital said they were hopeful he would make a full recovery.
The Associated Press
