Vonn Wins Historic 50th World Cup

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (Feb. 4) - Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) produced a stunning, on-edge downhill run in Garmisch to win the historic 50th Audi FIS Alpine World Cup of her career. The victory, Vonn's 25th in downhill, came after trailing at the first four race intervals and surviving a near crash on a bumpy side hill called the Ice Hang. It was Vonn's ninth win this season and places her soundly in the World Cup overall lead by nearly 500 points.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Lindsey Vonn won the historic 50th Audi FIS Alpine World Cup of her career
• It was the 25th downhill victory of Vonn's career (2nd all-time, Annemarie Moser-Proell 36)
• Vonn is third on the women's all-time win list (Vreni Scheider 55, Moser-Proell 62)
• Men's racers with 50 or more wins are Ingemar Stenmark (86), Hermann Maier (54), Alberto Tomba (50)
• With 1,350 points, Vonn leads the overall World Cup standings by 482 points
• Vonn also leads the downhill standings by 230 points
• Vonn trailed at the first three intervals and survived a near crash at the midway point
• Subzero temperatures of -13 forced racers to tape their faces to avoid frostbite
• Vonn wore a new U.S. Ski Team Spyder downhill suit for the victory
• Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) 9th, Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR) 10th, Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) 13th
• The women's U.S. Ski Team leads the nations standings for downhill by 433 points over Austria
• A super G is scheduled for Sunday to close the weekend in Garmisch

QUOTES
Lindsey Vonn
It's crazy, I am at a loss for words. I already cried with one of the TV crews and that is enough crying for the day. Fifty World Cup wins is a huge mark for me in my career and more than I even thought possible.

I am just so happy, every win is special, but 50 is a huge mark. I feel like today will be a day when I look back at my career and see what I have achieved. I have a lot more to do, I have a lot more years of skiing in me, but Alberto Tomba has 50 ski wins and he is one of the best skiers of all time, I don't see myself in that way, but to know that I have accomplished so much to this point is amazing.

I have raced in a lot of places and always something good or bad happens no matter what you do. Last year wasn't the best time here in Garmisch, but I turned everything around this year and it's awesome to get the 50th in Garmisch.

That [the near crash] wasn't part of the plan. I hit a bump and lost the inside edge of my ski and went onto my hip. From that point until the finish I skied well and was able to make up some time. It was a tough race.

Alex Hoedlmoser, women's Head Coach
This is pretty special, I'd actually call it a emotional. This is a milestone.

We have an unbelievable staff that contributed to this. They have a lot of knowledge and energy that transfers directly to the athletes. It's a long season, but they always keep the energy up and you need that to be successful as a team.

Lindsey's near crash happened about 20 meters from me. It actually stopped my heart a little bit becuase it's not a good place to crash. She came in and dropped the hip a little bit then hit that super bumpy section. That little mistake almost ended in a crash, but she pulled it off like nobody else could and didn't actually lose all that much speed there.

This shows that we have a very good combination of a lot of things. Lindsey is obviously doing her part, but we have an incredible team behind her and all the other athletes. I'm super happy with our performance.

TV
Universal Sports will air the women's downhill at 11 a.m. and 7 p.m. ET

OFFICIAL RESULTS

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