When Lindsey Vonn crossed the finish line 0.03 seconds behind Elisabeth Goergl in the World Cup super G at Lake Louise on Sunday, the Austrian team cheered from the finish area and mobbed Goergl in the leader's box.

Goergl got the win with a finish time of 1 minute, 21.91 seconds, preventing Vonn (1:21.94) from making another mark in history. She would have been the first American in alpine World Cup history to win three days straight.

"I know I skied well," Vonn said. "To lose by three hundredths ... it's nothing. It's like two blinks of your eye. It's like the width of your first finger. It's such a small margin, it's just a little bit painful because I was hoping to close the weekend with a win. But I know my skiing's there. My form is there. My speed is there. The weekend's gone fabulously and second place is fantastic."

French skier Ingrid Jacquemod (1:22.53) filled the last step of the podium on Sunday. It was her first World Cup podium since 2005 and her first ever in SG (her other three were in downhill).

"It's a very long time [since] I've been on the podium so I'm very happy with this result," she said. "Last season was a tough season for me so I'm happy."

The win was the third of Goergl's Cup career and her first in SG - her other two victories were in giant slalom. She said she didn't feel like she was going full attack, but simply felt her run was going smoothly.

"I felt pretty loose and easy going," Goergl said. "It always looks that I'm attacking because of my aggressive style, but I didn't feel that much attacking. I felt like I tried to ski smooth and loose and let the skis go and that worked today."

As for beating Vonn, Goergl said it was as unexpected for her as it was for everyone else.

"It's a surprise for me too a little bit," she said. "It feels good. It's really important for the Austrian team. We have big expectations on us and we haven't been that good in the last races. It's good that I won this race for the whole team."

Head skis certainly proved their worth this weekend. Like Vonn, Goergl also skis on Heads, as do Anna Fenninger and Maria Riesch, who finished fourth and fifth respectively, both within a tenth of a second of Jacquemod (1:22.53), Fenninger in 1:22.57 and Riesch in 1:22.60.

"The Heads are really fast right now," Vonn said. "Our whole team is really strong and it's been a great weekend for the whole company."

One Head skier, however, was disappointed in her race Sunday, but her skis were not to blame. Sweden star Anja Paerson finished fourth and sixth in the two downhills at Lake Louise but was worried that she jeopardized her chances to win the overall World Cup when she skied off course in the super G, though she was leading the race for the first two splits.

"I came into Fishnet and when I set the ski on, I got hit by a bump. Suddenly my direction was totally off and I couldn't make it back," she said. "I knew I could win here today. It sucks when you lose over 100 points. I hope I can come back for the but it's hard to win the Cup when you go out once."

The weekend was also a good one for the home team. After Emily Brydon's bronze and silver finishes in the downhill races, the entire Canadian team finished in the top 30 in the super G, a feat the women's team hasn't reached since a GS race in Are about four seasons ago.

Kelly Vanderbeek finished on top for the Canadians in 11th place, followed by Britt Janyk in 13th, Brydon 17th, Larisa Yurkiw 24th, Shona Rubens 26th and Georgia Simmerling 29th. As Simmerling skied into the points from the 50th starting position, the rest of her team jumped up and down and high-fived each other in the finish area.

"It is exciting that the team is so strong," said Vanderbeek, whose result would have been better had she not nearly crashed over the last jump. This is the best super G course I've ever raced on in Lake Louise. It's perfect from top to botttom. And the team ... none of us expected to be that good. We're ready for [the Olympics] in February."

The FIS Audi women's alpine World Cup moves back to Europe now, continuing Dec. 12-13 with GS and slalom in Are, Sweden.

FISalpine.com
Sunday 6 December 2009

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