World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn, a product of Ski Club Vail, reports regularly in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer.
ARE, SWEDEN — Going into the World Cup Finals this year, there’s a lot less suspense about the overall title chase than there was when I won last year.
It’s a lot more relaxing. Last year the standings were a lot closer, so every day and every run was incredibly nerve-wracking, incredibly stressful. Every point counted.
I went to the finals last year in the lead, but not by very much. It was a much closer three-woman race involving me, Maria Riesch of Germany and Nicole Hosp of Austria.
Thankfully this time it’s much easier because I have a nearly insurmountable lead. My main focus is the super-G title, because that’s something no American woman has won and it’s within my grasp.
Hopefully I can wrap up the overall after the downhill on Wednesday, which would be great.
The lack of suspense in the overall race won’t detract from my excitement about winning it, though. Not at all. For people on the outside watching the race, I’m sure it’s more exciting to see it come down to the last day, but for me it’s been a lot of work in a very long season and I’m just thankful that it’s almost over.
I’m so, so happy. It’s something I’ve really worked hard for this year. I really wanted to prove myself, prove that I could do it again. I wanted to show everyone that I’m not just a downhill skier, that I can ski all four disciplines as well as the combined. I definitely think I achieved that this year and I’m really, really proud of that.
I did have a lot more confidence going into this season because I won the overall last season, but I knew it was going to be just as hard if not harder to win it again. I had a good preparation, I put in all the work, I did everything I needed to do and that gave me confidence for the season.
My results in slalom were the most surprising, and that was a major factor in winning the overall this year. Without the slalom I don’t think I would have been able to do it, and it was the work I did in slalom that allowed me to do that, so it’s awesome to have that breakthrough.
More history on tap for Vonn
Having already won two gold medals at the world alpine ski championships last month, Lindsey Vonn stands on the brink of several more historic achievements this week at the World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden:
— Vonn almost certainly will win her second World Cup overall title, unprecedented for an American woman. She has a lead of 369 points over German Maria Riesch with four races remaining. Even if Reisch won all four races for 400 points, Vonn would claim the overall with just one eighth-place finish. Tamara McKinney is the only other American woman to win the overall (1983).
— Vonn already has clinched the season downhill title. Picabo Street is the only other American woman to win back-to-back downhill titles (1995-96).
— Vonn stands second in the super-G rankings, only 15 points behind Fabienne Suter of Switzerland. If she wins the super-G title, she will become the first American woman to win that discipline. She also would become the first American woman to win two discipline titles in the same season. Phil Mahre won slalom and giant slalom in 1982.
World Cup Finals
in Are, Sweden
Wednesday: men’s and women’s downhill
Thursday: men’s and women’s super-G
Friday: men’s giant slalom, women’s slalom
Saturday: men’s slalom, women’s giant slalom
