Ski Club Vail alum Lindsey Vonn made history again Monday, capturing a gold medal in the downhill at the world alpine ski championships at Val d’Isère, France, and achieving a rare sweep of the “speed” events.
Vonn won a super-G gold medal last Tuesday, and Monday’s triumph made her the first American woman to win two gold medals at a single world championships. It tied her with 1980s standout Tamara McKinney for most career medals won by an American woman at world championships (four) and was only the second sweep of the speed events for a woman at the world championships since 1987.
“It’s really weird,” Vonn said of the distinctions she is rapidly accumulating. “I just feel honored to be mentioned with the great ski legends. I really don’t picture myself as someone who’s among such great skiers. I feel like I’m breaking a lot of records, but I’m just out there doing my job. I love what I do, and I’m just working hard to continue to do well.”
Vonn’s smooth, near-perfect run which exceeded 63 mph at one point gave her a winning margin of .52 seconds. Lara Gut of Switzerland claimed the silver medal, and Nadia Fanchini of Italy took the bronze.
Vonn’s win in her favorite event came three days after she lost an apparent silver medal in the super-combined for missing a gate.
“It’s incredible,” Vonn said. “I was just looking for one gold medal, and I got that in the super-G. Then I was looking for a medal in the super-combined, but it didn’t work out. It just made me more hungry for the downhill.”
Downhill has been Vonn’s favorite discipline since she was 10 years old and met Picabo Street, who had just won her first World Cup downhill title. Downhill was the reason Vonn left the tiny ski hills of her native Minnesota for Vail when she was 12.
Thus, the world championships downhill was the race she most wanted to win, meaning there was extra pressure even though she was the favorite. She credited husband Thomas Vonn, a former U.S. ski racer, for calming her at the start.
“I wanted it so bad, I wanted it more than anything, and I knew that I could have it if I had a good run,” Vonn said. “It was only myself that was going to stop me. When you want things so bad, it’s sometimes really tough to control your emotions.”
By almost any objective criteria, Vonn is in the process of becoming the most accomplished female ski racer the U.S. has produced, and at age 24 figures to have many more years to add more accomplishments. She lacks only Olympic medals to fill the sole void in her record, something she can rectify a year from now at the Vancouver Winter Games.
Technically speaking, Vonn is the second U.S. woman to win two world championships gold medals at the same event. Andrea Mead Lawrence did it at the 1952 Oslo Olympics in an era when the International Ski Federation awarded dual world championships medals for Olympic races. That practice ended after the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, when the FIS moved its world championships to odd-numbered years.
Vonn has two more chances for medals at worlds — Thursday in giant slalom and Saturday in slalom — before resuming her pursuit of her second consecutive World Cup overall title, something no American woman has achieved. She also will become the winningest American woman on the World Cup circuit with one more win, having tied McKinney’s career record (18) nine days ago.
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
On the heels of Bode
U.S. ski racers with three or more medals (career) at the world championships:
5 medals — Bode Miller four gold, one silver
4 medals — Lindsey Vonn, two gold, two silver
4 medals — Tamara McKinney one gold, three bronze
3 medals — Christin Cooper two silver, one bronze
3 medals — Julia Mancuso one silver, two bronze
3 medals — Daron Rahlves one of each
3 medals — Picabo Street one of each
3 medals — Cindy Nelson two silver, one bronze (including 1972 Olympic bronze*)
3 medals — Billy Kidd one of each (including 1964 Olympic silver*)
* Through 1980, the International Ski Federation awarded world championships medals at the Olympics.
Vonn’s remaining races at the world championships
Thursday: Giant slalom
Saturday: Slalom
Note: Vonn has won two World Cup slalom races this season, finished on the podium in four of six races, and has not finished worse than fourth. She has never been on the podium in GS but has finished every World Cup GS this season in the top 10, including a fourth-place finish in Aspen.
John Meyer, The Denver Post
