ZAUCHENSEE, Austria (AP) — Lindsey Vonn is back to what she loves best.

After weeks of skiing technical races on the World Cup circuit, Vonn has completed her downhill training on the Kaelberloch course leading to this weekend's speed races — a super-combined Saturday and a downhill Sunday.

"It's been a long tech series, so I am really happy to be back at speed," Vonn told The Associated Press on Thursday night. "This is what I really love."

Vonn, who won the downhill title and became the first American women's overall champion since Tamara McKinney in 1983, finished the training run 1.21 seconds behind leader Kelly Vanderbeek of Canada. In Friday's training, Vonn was 13th.

"I never go 100 percent on training runs," she said. "Especially since we had that long break. Just getting back into things and getting the feeling of the speed."

Two of three downhill races scheduled so far this season were canceled. Vonn won the only remaining event in Lake Louise, Alberta, in December.

That doesn't sound like an ideal scenario for a speed-loving racer.

"Well, this year it's been easier because slalom is going better," said Vonn, who earned 340 slalom points so far against 46 in the entire previous season. "But the hard thing is I had not much downhill training in between, actually two days in one month. It's difficult because you lose the timing a little bit. It always takes a little while to get adjusted to the speed again."

Vonn is third in the overall standings, trailing close friend Maria Riesch of Germany by 113 points. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who skips this weekend's speed races, is second.

"Maria is skiing amazingly well," Vonn said. "It's cool. It's hard as well because we both want to win but if she wins, I am really happy for her and really proud of her. It's great to have a friend supporting you. We always do. No matter what, when the race is over, it's over."

Vonn put in extra training on her slalom skills in the offseason, and won the opening slalom event in Levi, Finland.

"Tactics in slalom are much more difficult, in giant slalom as well," she said. "That's what I've worked on a lot with my husband, Thomas, over the summer. That's why my slaloms are much better now. I am not making the same mistakes and know exactly what's going on at the course. It used to be an open highway."

Still, Vonn hasn't fallen in love with the discipline yet — a slalom just doesn't match the fun of a downhill.

"Your approach is different," she said. "(In downhill) you have training runs, you have the time to get prepared, to see the course, to make changes. In slalom you only have one shot and you have to go really aggressive otherwise you have no chance. It's a different mentality. The speed mentality suits me better."

With three downhills, two super-G's and a super-combined coming up in the next two weeks ahead of February's World Alpine Ski Championships in Val d'Isere, France, these are exciting times for Vonn.

And the pressure is on.

"I feel kind of pressure to repeat what I did last year in downhill," said Vonn, who then won five races and a super-combined event. "I had so many wins, it's hard to do that again. I am skiing well and it's just a matter of executing, I have a game plan for each race."

"It would be great for skiing in the U.S. No one has done it before. No one has won the overall twice in a row so I am trying everything, work 100 percent everyday."

A key to her success was strengthening her approach. And that's where Thomas comes in.

"It's my secret weapon: having him help me mentally," Vonn said. "That keeps me fresh. What I really learned over the past couple of years is that there are so many races. If you give your best and for some reason it doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world."

"I used to get really hung up on each race if I was one or two places worse than I was wanting to be," she added. "If you always get sad about what you just did, then you're never going to be better the next time."

By ERIC WILLEMSEN
January 16, 2009 at 12:50 p.m.

Bode Miller talks of 'distressing' season in pain

WENGEN, Switzerland — Bode Miller's ankle injury is hurting his skiing and his head.

The American says his injured left ankle is slowly wrecking the defense of his World Cup title and pursuit of gold medals at the world championships next month.

Worse, it is killing the fun of skiing for the 31-year-old star from Francona, N.H., who has long been known for his carefree approach.

"I have both physical and mental pain when I ski right now," said Miller, whose second place in the classic Lauberhorn downhill Saturday stretched his season-long winless streak to 19 races.

"I try as hard as I can, but if I'm not 100 percent physically it makes it tough for me," he said at the post-race news conference in a converted Wengen schoolroom.

From his desk on a raised plinth, Miller patiently answered questions, pausing while a helicopter that traditionally ferries the top three finishers to the makeshift media center landed below the third-floor window, bringing race winner Didier Defago of Switzerland to the session.

"Every day my ankle hurts," Miller said. "I'm not able to ski at the level that I want to ski at. That's little bit distressing over a long period of time. Especially when you don't have the results and you have to deal with all the other stuff that comes along with that."

The other stuff includes regular reminders that having only three runner-up finishes so far this season is below the expectations for a skier whose 31 career World Cup wins — including six last year — are a U.S. record.

"Really, the results have been pretty poor," Miller said.

Wengen, where he had won the past two Lauberhorn downhills, seemed an ideal spot to regain his touch.

Miller skied after Defago down the 2.8-mile course, but was around two-tenths of a second behind at every time split.

He described the effect of his ankle injury, sustained when clipping a gate with his left ski in a Dec. 5 downhill at Beaver Creek, Colo., saying that when his knee presses forward, it pulls the ankle apart inside the rigid boot.

"It's only in the ski boot that it hurts," Miller said. "It's a little bit frustrating on these downhills where there's a lot of really hard left turns. I just don't really have the power to do what I want to do."

Though Defago was a hugely popular home winner for the record Lauberhorn crowd of 29,000, fans in the finish area were silent when Miller was the only man on the course, allowing his run to be shown in full on a giant screen.

Miller finished 0.20 seconds behind Defago's time of 2 minutes, 31.98 seconds on the ski circuit's longest and most demanding course. Marco Sullivan of the United States was third, trailing Defago by 0.39.

Sullivan said he wanted to reach a downhill podium alongside Miller, who skies independently of the official U.S. team.

"It's really special," the 28-year-old from Tahoe City, Calif. said. "Daron (Rahlves) and Bode used to always podium together."

The last time two American men shared a podium after a downhill was Dec. 2006, when Miller and Steven Nyman finished 1-3 at Beaver Creek.

Sullivan was watched on course by his father, Paul, who traveled from California, and his sister Chelsea Robinson and brother-in-law Trevor, from Jackson Hole, Wyo.

"I think that was a little motivation to ski fast," Sullivan said. "My dad has never been to Europe. He got to see me and it was a special day."

Sasha Rearick, head coach of the U.S. team, said Sullivan skied the top of the course "like an absolute stud."

The nine-man American challenge had its rough moments. Scott Macartney of Redmond, Wash., crashed out hard in the top half, while TJ Lanning of Park City, Utah, and Nyman of Provo, Utah, fell at the S-bend in sight of the finish line.

Andrew Weibrecht of Lake Placid, N.Y., earned a World Cup point in 30th, trailing by 3.99.

Austria's Michael Walchhofer retained the lead in the downhill standings despite finishing 26th, while Miller climbed from sixth to second. Sullivan rose to 10th.

Benjamin Raich of Austria, who did not race Saturday, retains the lead in the overall standings, 593-536 on Jean-Baptiste Grange of France. The two will be among the favorites for a two-run slalom Sunday.

While Miller won't be favored, he'll race.

"We've come up with a new system in slalom which hopefully makes it less likely to get hurt again," he said. "I'm pretty stubborn. I pretty much go out there and keep going."

Graham Dunbar
The Associated Press
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Aspen, CO Colorado