ALPINE SKI. Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria – American Lindsey Vonn, who clocked the fastest time in the opening run, put a strong second run together to lead the rest of the pack by at least one second. She crossed the finish line with a combined time of 2:11.17 to clinch her 36th career World Cup win, equalling Annemarie Moser-Pröll's downhill record.

“The light was flat, and there was a lot of bumps, but I did a solid second run,” Vonn said. “I didn’t let the pressure get to me, and to be tied with Anna Marie is incredible, so I’m very happy and looking forward to tomorrow.”

Vonn had a substantial lead after the first run and admitted she didn't ski too aggressively in the second.

“First run, I think I skied really solidly, and then second run, I was a little bit more conservative because I knew I had a big lead and I knew that everyone was having trouble with the bumps, so I just tried to ski relaxed and it worked,” Vonn explained.

Second after the first run, Canada's Larisa Yurkiw held on to her position and finished exactly one second off the winning pace, while young Austrian racer Cornelia Hütter was third 1.66 seconds back.

Yurkiw confirmed she was comfortable on the Kälberloch course as she skied to her career first top 6 two years ago in Zauchensee (11 January 2014) and won the downhill run of the super combined the next day.

“I think it was a bit of a redemption day,” Yurkiw confessed. “When I was standing in the start, I realized, however many years ago, I won this downhill run in the combined, and I had so much pressure and I totally choked. And I was too young for that, so now I felt like I have the skills to handle myself and I thought I should make sure I come down with a big lead then it’ll be okay.”

Many racers struggled in the “Panorama-Kurve” section, which saw current World Cup overall leader, Switzerland’s Lara Gut ski out in the first run. Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather, who was among the favourites, failed to complete the second run after skiing out in the same portion.

In the downhill standings, Lindsey Vonn leads now with 300 points, 50 points clear of Cornelia Hütter.

“The second run was so hard and the visibility was so bad, and it was really bumpy and it was more out of control skiing, but I hoped that yeah, I am on the podium and I am really happy about it,” Hütter conlcuded.

A super-G race is scheduled for Sunday (11:30 CET).

FIS alpine
09 January 2016 14:00