GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Elisabeth Goergl of Austria won the women’s downhill at the world championships Sunday, defeating favorites Lindsey Vonn and Maria Riesch to earn her second gold medal of the competition.
“I can’t believe it. I was so anxious before the race,” said Goergl, who finished the 1.8-mile Kandahar course in 1 minute, 47.24 seconds to beat defending champion Vonn by 0.44 and Riesch by 0.60.
It was the first top-level downhill in two years not won by either Vonn or Riesch.
Vonn, of Vail, has been struggling with the aftereffects of a concussion, having hit her head in a training crash in Austria 11 days ago.
The Olympic downhill champion lost her super-G title Tuesday when she finished seventh in an event won by Goergl, then skipped the slalom part of the super-combined Friday.
“For me, this silver is like gold,” Vonn said. “I have been fighting the last couple of days just to be able to race today. I am very proud about this second place. It was the best result possible for me. I could race a bit more like I normally do, but it was difficult to go to the limit.”
Vonn said she felt well and was cleared to race after passing all the concussion tests.
“But I felt during the race that I was still not 100 percent,” she said. “Today it was all about fighting. I’ve had a lot of injuries, and most of the time it’s just about managing and dealing with the pain. . . . But this injury has taken away my focus. The only thing I can do is nothing and get some rest in a dark room. I don’t enjoy that. I wanna be out there fighting.”
Goergl, the first Austrian woman to win downhill gold since Michaela Dorfmeister in 2001, said she tried to attack throughout her run.
“I went wide a couple of times but I kept calm,” she said. “I am happy that I didn’t make a mistake this time.”
Goergl became the fourth woman to win downhill and super-G titles at the same world championships. Vonn (2009), Sweden’s Anja Paerson (2007) and Switzerland’s Maria Walliser (1987) also completed the speed double.
“The super-G gold was not a relief for me. I still felt pressure,” she said. “But I think you need to have that feeling to do really well.”
Julia Mancuso, who won silver in super-G, trailed by 1.06 in sixth place Sunday and Laurenne Ross was 10th, giving the U.S. three top-10 finishers in a world championships race for the first time since 2007, when Vonn (then Kildow) took second in the super-G, Mancuso sixth and Libby Ludlow ninth.
The last time the U.S. achieved the feat in downhill was at the 1996 worlds, with Picabo Street taking the title, Hilary Lindh winning bronze and Megan Gerety placing fifth.
