Vonn Wins Again in Lake Louise
LAKE LOUISE, Alberta (Dec. 5, 2015) – Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) skied to her second win in as many days in the Lake Louise Audi FIS Ski World Cup downhill, taking the victory by 1.05 seconds.
If Vonn gets more confident, she may leave her nearest competitors even further behind. After a mishap the day before still led to a 0.58-second margin of victory, Vonn planned to ski a less risky line and wound up over a second ahead of Switzerland’s Fabienne Suter, the runner-up on the day. Cornelia Huetter of Austria was third.
“Today I tried to limit my risk but at the same time my skis were so fast and the light was really flat and also it was a little more bumpy today, that I was kind of hanging on for dear life,” admitted Vonn. “I felt like I was trying to be aggressive and trying to still ski solidly but nothing was kind of going my way. I have to look at video and see how it actually was compared to what it felt like. I think Heinz (Hammerle) is doing an amazing job. My skis were really fast today.”
A rare three-way tie for eighth place between Lara Gut, Viktoria Rebensburg, and Nicole Schmidhofer bumped American Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) into 11th. Jackie Wiles (Aurora, OR) proved her recent head sponsorship from the Lindsey Vonn Foundation was no fluke by producing her best result since Jan. 2014, finishing 17th. Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO) was 20th and Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR) finished 21st. Young gun Breezy Johnson (Salt Lake City, UT), who was racing her second World Cup, just missed the points in 32nd. Anna Marno (Steamboat Springs, CO) finished 42nd.
The women’s speed week at Lake Louise concludes on Sunday with a super G race scheduled for 11 a.m. MST. Stream it live on NBC Sports Live Extra and watch on Universal HD at 8:30 p.m. EST.
HIGHLIGHTS
- Lindsey Vonn won her second Lake Louise downhill in two days.
- In the points: Stacey Cook was 11th, Jackie Wiles 17th, Alice McKennis 20th and Laurenne Ross 21st.
- It was Lindsey Vonn’s 69th World Cup win and her 17th win at Lake Louise.
- It is the second best career result for Jackie Wiles following a 15th in downhill at Cortina Jan. 24, 2014.
- Next up, the women race the super G at Lake Louise at 11 a.m. MST.
- Watch the super G LIVE on NBC Sports Live Extra or on Universal HD at 8:30 p.m. ET.
QUOTES
Lindsey Vonn
Today I tried to limit my risk, but at the same time my skis were so fast and the light was really flat and it was a little more bumpy today. I was kind of hanging on for dear life. I felt like I was trying to be aggressive and trying to still ski solidly but nothing was kind of going my way. I have to look at video and see how it actually was compared to what it felt like. I think Heinz (Hammerle) is doing an amazing job. My skis were really fast today.
That’s why I love what I do, because when you’re in the starting gate it’s you against the mountain and you can push yourself as hard as you want to. I still want to push as hard as I possibly can. That’s what I love. I love the adrenaline. I love the speed. I love the thrill of it, and when the light’s flat and it’s bumpy it’s that much more exciting for me. Just because I’m older doesn’t mean I’ve lost any desire to continue to win and to continue to ski fast.
RESULTS
Women's super G results
On-site reporting provided by Ski Racing.