Vail’s Lindsey Vonn is close to clinching her third straight World Cup overall title, an unprecedented achievement for an American woman. The Olympic downhill champion reports regularly from the World Cup tour in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer.
GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — It’s kind of sad. I’ve gotten a lot of Twitter tweets from people saying, “I’m so sad I can’t watch Lindsey Vonn ski until 2014 in Sochi.”
They don’t realize the World Cup is just as important to me as the Olympics. I’m trying to win my third overall title, and I’ve already clinched the World Cup downhill, super-G and super-combined season titles. All of that is really important to me.
I’m back in Europe, and I’m really excited to be racing — last weekend in Switzerland and this week in Germany. As overwhelmed and happy as I am about doing well in the Olympics, I can’t be satisfied with that. I have to keep working and keep trying to ski well for these last two weeks of the season. It’s something really special to be able to say you’re an Olympic champ-ion, and with that comes more recognition in the U.S. I’m really excited about that, not necessarily for the endorsement deals, but just to get my sport more well-known. I’m probably not going to be on Jay Leno for winning the overall World Cup, but that’s very significant to me and to our sport in this country. The overall World Cup really measures how good you are over an entire season, not just one single race.
I am skiing more relaxed. Since the Olympics, I’ve had a lot less on my mind. I’m able to ski the way I want to ski, and ski relaxed. The overall title is on the line, and there’s a lot that could be stressing me out, but I feel great.
The World Cup Finals this week are here in the hometown of Maria Riesch, the only woman who can overtake me in the overall chase. She does have an advantage there, but she does have a lot of pressure and I think she’s going to feel that a lot. She’s going to give it everything she has, and I’m counting on that.
After the World Cup Finals, I’m excited about getting back to Vail and skiing my run, the former International trail, which Vail Resorts renamed “Lindsey’s” during the Olympics. That’s going to be a really exciting day for me. But my season isn’t quite over yet.
Women’s World Cup overall chase
The World Cup season concludes this week with races in all four disciplines, and Vail’s Lindsey Vonn has a comfortable lead in the overall standings. If she wins, she would become the second American to win three World Cup overall titles (Phil Mahre, 1981-83):
Overall standings Points
Lindsey Vonn, Vail 1,491
Maria Riesch, Germany 1,246
Anja Paerson, Sweden 922
* Note: Vonn already has clinched the downhill and super-G titles, and she could clinch the overall in Wednesday’s downhill if she wins and Riesch doesn’t finish in the top five. If she wins and Riesch finishes second, Riesch would have to win two of the remaining three races and finish second in the other one to overtake Vonn.
John Meyer, The Denver Post
