TARVISIO, Italy — Here’s a measure of Lindsey Vonn’s strength in the downhill: She no longer bothers to celebrate the season-long championship.
She won the downhill crown for the fourth consecutive year Saturday by finishing second to Sweden’s Anja Paerson. A day earlier, the Vail resident clinched her second straight super-combined title. She now has 11 World Cup championships for her career, with another possibly on the way in today’s super-G.
This latest title hardly prompted a ski-dancing display in the snow as was the case Friday. Instead, Vonn appeared upset when she crossed the line a distant 0.73 seconds behind. Still, she wasn’t about to take the milestone for granted, especially in a season in which she left the world championships because of the lingering effects of a concussion.
“You can never expect any titles,” she said. “Nothing is given to you and you have to fight for every point and every place, and this year I wasn’t able to win as many times as last year, so it definitely wasn’t easy. Maria (Riesch) gave me a run for my money and I had to keep fighting hard the whole season.”
Elisabeth Goergl, who won gold in the super-G and downhill at last month’s world championships, finished 1.17 back in third. Tina Maze, Friday’s super-combined winner, was fourth on a shortened course because of curtailed training on the upper section.
Vonn’s runner-up finish gave her an insurmountable 143-point lead in the downhill standings over German rival Riesch, who finished sixth but remains the overall leader.
“It’s an incredible achievement,” U.S. coach Alex Hoedlmoser said.
Vonn trails Riesch by just 136 points in the overall standings with seven races remaining.
Janka wins GS
KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — Olympic champion Carlo Janka of Switzerland won a men’s World Cup giant slalom, 10 days after having surgery to correct an irregular heartbeat.
French teenager Alexis Penturault had a blistering second run to jump from 16th to second, trailing Janka by 0.02, and world GS champion Ted Ligety of the U.S. was 0.12 back in third.
