ALPINE:

Vonn jabs back at Riesch with scintillating super-G run

Dec. 5, 2010      ♦ Photos: Home page and below, Lindsey Vonn (Michel Painchaud); the weather, and course, were perfect for racing this weekend (MP); Marie-Michele Gagnon savors a solid run, en route to placing 27th to lead the Canadians (MP)

LAKE LOUISE, Alberta — When second place is a disappointment, you've undoubtedly established yourself as an exceptional ski racer. After two straight runner-up finishes in the Canadian Rockies, American Lindsey Vonn displayed domination Sunday, cruising to the super-G victory on the final day of the 2010 Lake Louise Winterstart.

Vonn, wearing bib No. 22 as the last legitimate contender, sizzled down the course in 1 minute, 20.72 seconds, relegating Germany's Maria Riesch to second, a whopping .83 behind. Riesch won both downhills this weekend and was looking for the sweep.

American Julia Mancuso nabbed third, .89 behind, as the trio served notice that it could be a three-racer battle for the crystal globe this winter.

Marie-Michele Gagnon placed 27th to lead the Canadians, with Britt Janyk 33rd, Marie-Pier Prefontaine 35th, Georgia Simmerling 38th and Kelly McBroom 40th. Victoria Stevens did not finish her run.

Vonn, the defending World Cup champion and reigning Olympic champion in downhill, has won a record seven downhills at Lake Louise, but Sunday's victory was her first in super-G at the resort.

"I wanted to end the weekend with a bang, make a statement and put people's doubts to rest and I think I did that today," Vonn said.

"I always somehow get the win taken away from me here in Lake Louise in super-G. I've always lost by a small margin, so I wanted to make sure there was no room for doubt today. If I can't win the downhill, then it's great I can at least win the super-G."

The next stop on the women's World Cup circuit is St. Moritz, Switzerland, for super-G and giant slalom races Saturday and Sunday, followed by a downhill in Val d'Isere the following week.

Riesch, from Garmisch-Partenkirchen, was attempting to become the first woman to sweep all three races at Lake Louise since her countrywoman Katja Seizinger won both downhills and the super-G in 1997.

But Vonn was highly motivated to prevent the hat trick after losing to Riesch by 0.12 and 0.10 seconds respectively in the downhills Friday and Saturday.

"She was in her own league today and so she deserved the win," Riesch said. "It wasn't a perfect run for me, but I'm really happy with my second place."

Riesch has finished second to Vonn in the overall World Cup race the past two seasons. It's shaping up to be a close race this season between the two, who are close friends as well as rivals.

"Maria is really tough this year," Vonn said. "She's a clear favourite for the overall at this point and I'm just going to do my best to keep up with her."

Janyk of Whistler, B.C., was considered Canada's best medal hope at Lake Louise. She was fourth and 10th in the downhills last year and was third three years ago. But the 30-year-old continued to struggle Sunday and finished 33rd.

"I really don't know what to say," Janyk said as tears welled in her eyes. "It's been a really tough week. It's just frustrating.

"The nice thing is tomorrow I'll be getting on a plane and changing continents and I can really leave this behind and just start from a clean slate next week. There's a lot to learn from. It wasn't the results I wanted. It was tough, but it was the first race of the season and there's still a lot ahead."

The Canadian men were also shut out of the medals making it the first year the host team didn't make the podium at Lake Louise since 2005.

Still, it was a promising return to speed racing for Gagnon, who has been focused on the technical disciplines of slalom and giant slalom in recent seasons.

"I am really stoked to be doing speed, I haven't been in the last few years. I said to myself today that top 30 would be good. Eventually I want to be better than that but it's a good start, it's a good step," said Gagnon, who already has top-30 results in three disciplines early in the 2010-11 season.

"I am pretty much planning to race the speed circuit this season (as well as tech). I am racing in St. Moritz and Val d'Isere before Christmas, so that's great," Gagnon added.

Sunday's race was held in sunny conditions and no wind, yet it was the coldest of the three races with a temperature of minus-16.

Vonn had criticized the course throughout the week for being too icy. It had been injected with water to keep it sound for the men's races the week before.

The 26-year-old was more complimentary Sunday even though a dozen women crashed or missed gates.

"There were only a couple of slick gates today and unfortunately quite a few girls went down on the top part, but for the most part, the course was in great shape, really grippy and a lot of fun to ski," Vonn said.

Vonn concentrated on improving her technical races — slalom and giant slalom — over the summer and believed that helped her win Sunday.

"GS is where you get the dynamic skiing where you move from edge to edge and I think it really helps the dynamics of my super-G skiing," she explained. "I think it helps with the quickness and the agility."

Vonn's World Cup victory was the 34th of her career.  S-Magazine

— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Lake Louise women's World Cup super-G results