ARE, Sweden—Lindsey Vonn captured the women’s overall title for the second straight year by winning the last downhill of the season Wednesday at the World Cup finals.
Vonn, of Vail, Colo., completed the 1.6-mile Olympia course, which was designed by former Swiss downhill great Bernhard Russi, in 1 minute, 42.49 seconds after posting the fastest splits all the way down.
She needed at least an eighth-place finish to become the first woman in U.S. history to capture two World Cup overall titles.
Maria Riesch of Germany was second in 1:42.89 and also finished second overall.
Austrian veteran Renate Goetschl, a five-time winner at Are, placed third in 1:44.39.
Vonn had already clinched the downhill title for the second straight year, matching hero and friend Picabo Street’s consecutive titles in 1995 and ’96.
A double gold medalist in last month’s world championships, Vonn also has a chance to win the super-G title, trailing Fabienne Suter of Switzerland by only 15 points. The final super-G is Thursday.
