ALPINE SKI. With the 2012/13 ladies’ alpine skiing season beginning this Saturday with a giant slalom race in Sölden, Austria, several women can break or equal World Cup records this season, led by American Lindsey Vonn.

Lindsey Vonn receives a crystal globe for winning the Super Combined ranking at Schladming, Austria, on 17 March 2012. Photo Credit: Erich Spiess/Red Bull

Lindsey Vonn
With 53 career World Cup victories, Lindsey Vonn (USA) is two wins behind Vreni Schneider (SUI) for second place on the all-time list and nine behind Annemarie Moser-Pröll’s (AUT) record of 62. Vonn has won nine or more races in three of the last four seasons, including 12 last season.

With three more World Cup podiums, Vonn will become the fourth female skier to reach 100, and first non-European, after Moser-Pröll (AUT, 114), Renate Götschl (AUT, 110) and Schneider (SUI, 101). To tie Moser-Pröll’s record this season, Vonn would need to match her career-high with 17 podiums, which she achieved in 2009/10 and 2011/12.

Vonn needs to win only one crystal globe this season to take the all-time lead. She currently shares the record of 16 with Moser-Pröll.

She has won five consecutive downhill crystal globes, tying Moser-Pröll’s run of five straight from 1971-75. Vonn can be the first skier in either gender to win six consecutive World Cup downhill titles.

A sixth career downhill title would move Vonn past Götschl into second place on the career ladies’ downhill crystal globe list. Moser-Pröll won it seven times overall. Vonn has won the last four super-G crystal globes and would tie Katja Seizinger’s (GER) record of five career titles with another globe this season. Vonn would also break the record of four consecutive Super G titles that she currently shares with Seizinger.
Challengers

Marlies Schild (AUT) is one win behind Schneider’s World Cup record of 34 slalom victories. Schild won six World Cup slalom races in each of the last two seasons and could equal Schneider’s record in the first slalom of this season on 10 November in Levi, Finland.

Schild can win her fifth slalom crystal globe to equal Erika Hess (SUI) in second place, one behind Schneider’s record of six.

In all disciplines, Schild has 35 career World Cup victories and is one win behind Seizinger (36) for sixth place all-time. If Schild can win seven events this season, one fewer than her career-high of eight in 2006/07, she would catch recently retired Anja Pärson (SWE) for fifth place with 42 wins.

Viktoria Rebensburg (GER) can win her third consecutive giant slalom crystal globe and become the second female skier to achieve this feat and the first in 34 years. The only other woman to have done it is Lise-Marie Morerod (SUI) from 1976-78.
For more statistical coverage of alpine skiing and other winter Olympic sports, follow @Infostrada2014 on twitter.

Courtesy of Infostrada Sports
FISalpine.com
Wednesday 24 October 2012

  Tweet