KRANJSKA GORA, Slovenia — Finishing fourth in a giant slalom here Saturday put me in third place in the World Cup giant slalom standings, which is a position I never thought I would be in.
Giant slalom has always been my weakest discipline — I’ve always struggled with it. But I won the first GS race of the season, and I’ve been in the top five of every GS except for Aspen, where I finished 12th with a sore back.
I got my first-ever GS podium just last March, and now I’m in the hunt for the season GS title. Winning the GS title is now a goal, and I think it’s possibly for me. My whole mental approach to GS has changed. I feel really comfortable in GS now. I feel similarly confident in GS as I do in super-G and downhill.
Used to be, I’d be in the starting gate of a GS race thinking, “What am I doing here?” Now I’m thinking I can win. To still be improving as a racer at age 27, I’m really excited about that.
Being just off the podium by .03 of a second is never easy to take, but I picked up really good points (50) in the overall standings with Saturday’s result.
I definitely made some mistakes. On the second run, I was fastest in the middle section but lost a lot of time on the bottom section.
Sunday’s slalom was real challenging course, both runs. Really steep, pretty icy, and the finshing rate was very low — 26 racers weren’t able to finish the first run. It wasn’t my best skiing, but I finished seventh, my best slalom finish of the season.
It’s frustrating when people say, “You didn’t win,” or, “You didn’t get top three.” But these are really solid results for me in technical events, and they mean a lot for me in the chase for the overall title.
I’ve got a chance to rack up a lot of points this weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where we have two super combined races and a downhill. I’m really excited. I have almost 1,000 points already (970) in the overall chase and it’s not even the end of January. I feel like I’m back in winning form in downhill and super-G, and my slalom is in a good place, which makes me dangerous in those super combined.
Vail’s Lindsey Vonn, a three-time World Cup overall winner and Olympic downhill champion, reports regularly in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer
Vonn in the World Cup Standings
Overall: first
Downhill: first
Super-G: first
Giant slalom: third
Slalom: 13th
