ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP. CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy – There was one woman who broke far away from the field in the sunny 2011 Cortina d’Ampezzo downhill on Saturday and this time it was Maria Riesch.

Germany's Maria Riesch speeds down the course to win an alpine ski women's World Cup downhill race, in Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Elvis Piazzi)

Proving yet again why she is leading the World Cup overall standings, Riesch took her slightly shaken nerves from what she called a “little disappointment” (ninth place super G run) on Friday and proceeded to burn her long skis down the Olympia della Tofane course in 1 minute, 39.30 seconds. The only skier within a second of her was Julia Mancuso, who was 0.91 seconds back for her first downhill podium since her silver medal at the 2010 Olympic Games and her first on the World Cup in exactly three years.

Charging as hard as ever, Lindsey Vonn had yet another glimpse of disaster when, after leading at the first split, she caught an edge and went careening wide toward the fence and somehow regained control of her skis to get her speed back and finish third, 1 second behind Riesch.

Lindsey Vonn of the United States speeds down the course to take the third place in an alpine ski women's World Cup downhill race, in Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Armando Trovati)

“I was a little surprised by the big distance. I was happy to come down with the big lead. The visibility was good today and the snow was hard and icy – like I like it. ” said Riesch, who also said she didn’t think Vonn would have been faster than her even if she didn’t have the mistake.

“I think she was so lucky,” Riesch said of her friend’s run. “And because of her great athletic shape, she did the best of the situation. She [would be] closer, definitely, [without the mistake] but I don’t think she would have beaten me today.”

Maria Riesch of Germany celebrates on the podium after winning an alpine ski women's World Cup downhill race, in Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

Riesch, who increased her lead in the overall Cup standings to 1152 points over Vonn, who now has 987, said Saturday’s win was particularly important if the technical races canceled in Maribor last weekend are not rescheduled.

“I’m really happy with [this] race. It was important for me to hit back today after the little disappointment of yesterday and also because maybe the Maribor races are totally canceled,” she said. “It’s really important to make good points in speed events for me.”

Mancuso, who has had several top 10s in downhill in the last year, including a fourth this season in Lake Louise, also threw down two fast training runs in Cortina this week, finishing second to Riesch the first day of training and second to Vonn the second day.

“Back on the podium … it’s nice,” she said. “I had a solid run so it’s nice to get the rewards of that. When I look at the time difference, I know that Maria skied really, really well and you feel lucky when you get second even when you’re .9 back. It’s like, OK, at least I did my best run. Even if I had a little better run, maybe I’d be .5 out, but today Maria had a really good run that was tough to beat.”

Vonn, who crossed the finish line, looked at her result and put her head down, leaning heavily on her ski poles, said she was not consciously risking more than she normally does in order to try to beat Riesch’s time.

Winner Maria Riesch of Germany, front, and third placed, Lindsey Vonn of the United States congratulate each other on the podium of an alpine ski women's World Cup downhill race, in Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)

“I wasn’t risking more than I had in training,” Vonn said. “I thought I had a really good run going. Where I made the mistake wasn’t in a hard part of the course. I just hit a bump and my edge caught. I was a little unweighted on the ski, I was waiting to pressure. It was a little ripply in there from the super G, my left ski went away and I tried to get it back. All I saw was the net coming very fast and I just tried to stay in the course.”

Vonn said her left knee “felt a little funny” but she thought it was “probably fine.” While she is happy she possesses such athleticism to execute that caliber of recovery while going what she guessed was about 120 kilometers per hour, she was still rattled. She clearly is more inclined to laugh and smile when she wins the race with a clean run, as she did in Friday’s super G.

“I was definitely pretty shocked – probably more shocked than I’ve been in any other recovery. It took me a second to get my thoughts together. I said ‘OK, get in your tuck and keep going.’ I had hardly any speed after that mistake but I didn’t want to give up. Third place with that mistake is really good,” she said. “It says a lot that I can make a mistake like that and finish on the podium. But all I want to do is have a good clean run, you know? That is my plan for tomorrow. Tomorrow is another day.”

Racers who didn’t get so lucky following their mistakes in the downhill included Anja Paerson, Laurenne Ross and Dominique Gisin, all of whom missed gates and ended up on the DNF list.

“We changed the line a little from the training runs, I went a bit too early and I didn’t have the direction,” said Paerson, who was leading the race before she missed the gate and who finished second in Friday’s super G. “I skied pretty OK on top. I think I would have done a pretty good race today so I’m pretty bummed.”

Gisin crashed after a jump on the top part of the course but got up and skied down, appearing to have no major injuries.

The Austrians had another solid day with three athletes in the top 10, including Andrea Fischbacher in fourth, 1.10 seconds off the winning pace. Switzerland’s Nadja Kamer was fifth (1.26 seconds out) and Italian Daniela Merighetti evoked the biggest cheers during her run and ended up sixth, 1.31 seconds out. France’s Marie Marchand-Arvier was seventh, 1.40 seconds out, Lara Gut eighth, 1.48 seconds out, Anna Fenninger ninth, 1.53 seconds out and Elisabeth Goergl 10th, 1.61 seconds out.

By Shauna Farnell
FISalpine.com
Saturday 22 January 2011

From left, second placed Julia Mancuso of the United States, winner Maria Riesch of Germany, and third placed Lindsey Vonn of the United States celebrate on the podium of an alpine ski women's World Cup downhill race, in Cortina d' Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)