Vonn makes history with three-race sweep

LAKE LOUISE, Canada - Agence France-Presse

With her victory at Lake Louise, Lindsey Vonn became the first skier in history to win three World Cup races at the same venue in two different seasons. REUTERS photo

Another race at Lake Louise, another win for Lindsey Vonn, who triumphed in a women’s alpine World Cup super-G on Dec. 2 to complete another three-race sweep in the Canadian Rockies.

Vonn, winner of downhills on Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, was timed in 1:22.82, beating fellow American Julia Mancuso by 0.43 second.

Austria’s Anna Fenninger was third, 45-hundredths off the lead.

Vonn notched her 14th career win at Lake Louise, where she swept three races last year as well. She becomes the first skier in history to win three World Cup races at the same venue in two different seasons.

She hopes her continued domination on the women’s alpine circuit will convince skiing’s governing officials to grant her request to race against the top men in the world.

“It’s not like I’m getting 20th every day and saying I want to race the men,” Vonn said. “I try to let my skiing speak for itself.

“I think this weekend was the next step for me and a testament to why I want to race with the men.”

With her 56th World Cup triumph, she moved out of a tie for second on the all-time list with Swiss great Vreni Schneider, who reigned in the technical disciplines in the 1980s and ‘90s.

Now Vonn is chasing the record 62 World Cup victories of Annemarie Moser-Proell.

Vonn’s stellar weekend comes just a couple of weeks after a painful intestinal ailment landed her in hospital for two days.

Last weekend at Aspen she opted out of a slalom, and looked tired in finishing 21st in a giant slalom.

She was delighted that a return to Lake Louise produced a return to the winner’s circle, especially on Sunday in the super-G, which she said was always the tougher race for her compared to a downhill.

“I was in a pretty rough place sitting in a hospital bed and everyone is training and skiing fast and Tina (Maze) is winning everything and, ‘Great. How am I supposed to get up and keep going? I have no training, I have no energy,”’ she said.

“I’ve never quite dealt with something like that before. I didn’t know what was going to happen.

“I came up here trying to have a clean slate, giving myself every chance to do well and it turned around. This really sets me up well for the rest of the season.”