ALPINE SKI WORLD CUP. LAKE LOUISE, Canada- Lindsey Vonn wins once again in Lake Louise. It’s the 10th victory here for the American, and once again she wins in style. With a time of 1 minute, 51.35 seconds, she left second ranked Marie Marchand- Arvier from France 1.68 seconds behind and third ranked Elisabeth Goergl 1.91 seconds behind. Today Vonn evened out Renate Goetschl’s record of 10 victories at the same venue, she was able to reach the top of the podiums 10 times in Cortina d’ Ampezzo through her impressive career.

After the amazing performance Vonn put down in Friday’s Downhill, today it was less a question about who might win the race, and more about by how much could Vonn win it. The confidence that Vonn is able to find on the Lake Louise slope, the clean lines she is able to find put her clearly on a different level than everybody else.

Although you would never tell by the way she was skiing, even Vonn had to fight against some wind and bad visibility.

“I was happy with my run today, I made a few small mistakes, it was tough. There was a bit of tail wind at the bottom, which was pushing me around a little bit. There was also some flat light which made it a lot more difficult today than yesterday,” Vonn said.

“Some girls went out and one of my teammates crashed, but luckily wasn’t hurt too badly, I think my run yesterday was a little bit better but I can’t really complain about it. A win is a win and I’m really happy,” she added.

After winning with a huge margin on Friday, Vonn was not completely confident she could do the same on Saturday; but by winning with over a second and a half she sure was as close as one can get to a perfect run.

“It’s definitely bumpier in some places and normally when there’s light out, its no problem,” Vonn commented on her run, “but I think just because it’s so dark you can’t really see the terrain and that kind of throws off your timing…it’s tough to see the depth perception. It might not really be more bumpy than yesterday, but with the flat light it makes it more difficult.”

Marie Marchand- Arvier didn’t have the perfect run she was looking for during Friday’s Downhill, but she was able to redeem herself with a second place on Saturday.

“It was a great race today for me, after my disappointment yesterday,” Marchand- Arvier said, “I had a difficult season last year and to come back this way is just amazing. But I knew I had some good training over the summer and today it paid off. Lindsey is very strong, I don’t think we can deal with that just yet, but we have to push ourselves more and maybe one day be better and beat her…This is a lot of work, a second and a half is a lot. When you see her skiing, all you can say is- how?” It’s just beautiful. Maybe we have to get inspired by her and be better.”

Elisabeth Goergl crashed into the nets during a Downhill training and has been a bit bruised up since, but that sure didn’t stop her from giving it all in the second Downhill and achieving a third place.

“I’m really happy, this was a big fight for me today. I don’t feel good, I still have a headache but my physio and my doctor helped me a lot, so i’m happy for them and for me. I also had a tough race yesterday, concerning my confidence, it was good for me just to go and do the run. Today was so much better, when you crash you have to get up on your feet and do it right the next day. Lindsey is in her own league now, and that’s just the way it is,” a happy Goergl said.

Some of the top ladies from Friday’s race were able to keep the momentum going in today’s race aswell, Viktoria Rebensburg missed the podium by only .02 seconds and got fourth while Dominique Gisin was out of the podium by .05 seconds in fifth.

After her first World Cup podium placement Friday, Tina Weirather reached 10th place in today’s Downhills. After numerous crashes she has a hard time finding the confidence to push herself to the limit when there is flat light.

“I made a mistake coming down to the Coaches Corner,” Weirather said,  “but I’m still happy with my run. Usually in these conditions, when the light is bad and it’s dark, I tend to ski really badly. But today I’m happy, I feel like I did a good job.”

Young American skier Laurenne Ross suffered an ugly looking crash, she had to be airlifted off the course but a first check up hasn’t shown any major injuries. She did suffer some facial laceration, the biggest one on her forehead which will be treated by a plastic surgeon.

The hot question in Lake Louise is, can Lindsey Vonn make it a sweep by winning Sunday’s SG? As always, she answers a question with a big smile and you can read it in her eyes that she sure doesn’t lack the confidence to do it.

“Once, in Haus, two years ago… But a sweep is really difficult to do. But I’ll just try to have a good inspection tomorrow, see what the course looks like. The snow conditions are fantastic, so I guess I just have to go out there and try to do the same things I did yesterday and today- ski aggressively, execute the line and try not to make any mistakes.

Whatever happens tomorrow, Lake Louise has already once again, been renamed Lake Lindsey…

by Ana Jelusic
FISalpine.com
Saturday 3 December 2011