ALPINE:

Vonn rules Val d'Isere downhill, Janyk 13th

Dec. 18, 2010     ♦ Photo: Lindsey Vonn's goals include breaking Vreni Schneider's 14-win record (Michel Painchaud)

VAL D'ISERE, France — American skier Lindsey Vonn won her first downhill race of the season at Val d'Isere on Saturday to close the gap on overall World Cup leader Maria Riesch.

Vonn, the three-time defending World Cup champion and reigning Olympic downhill champion, had finished second behind her German rival in both downhills at Lake Louise two weeks ago but turned the tables at one of her favourite resorts.

Despite a wobble near the top section of the 1.7-mile Oreiller-Killy course, Vonn finished in a time of 1 minute, 51.42 seconds.

Swiss pair Nadja Kamer and Lara Gut were second and third, respectively. Britt Janyk was 13th to lead the Canadians.

"I love Val d'Isere, I've always had a good feeling here. It's great to have another victory," Vonn said.

Vonn has a prolific record at Val d'Isere, whatever the slope she races on. She won World Cup downhill races here in 2005 and 2006, along with a downhill and super-G World Championships double and a World Cup super-combined race last year.

This time, she made a spectacular recovery after nearly crashing on the turn just below the second jump. She feared that slip would cost her, only for Riesch to fare much worse than expected.

"I made a big mistake at the top but I tried to make up time on the bottom, and I think I skied pretty well on the turns," Vonn said. "At the finish I thought it was a good time, but for sure Maria would beat me."

Vonn was .001 down on Kamer at the second time split, but picked up speed on the second part of the course to beat her by 0.68 seconds, and the 19-year-old Gut by 0.80.

Riesch started poorly in soft conditions and kept losing more time to Vonn, finishing 2.28 seconds adrift in 24th place. Vonn expected a better performance from her friend.

"I was definitely surprised," Vonn said.

Vonn's goals this season include breaking the American single-season record of 11 wins she set last year. She's aiming for the all-time record of 14 victories established by Swiss great Vreni Schneider in 1988-89.

"I feel like my confidence is at a great place right now," Vonn said. "I feel like all my events are pretty good."

Vonn's win moves her to the top of the downhill standings ahead of Riesch, who leads Vonn by 52 points in the overall standings ahead of Sunday's super-combined race.

The clear blue skies and bright sunshine were a stark contrast to Friday's weather when the super-G race — already postponed last weekend at the Swiss resort of St. Moritz — was called off again because of heavy snowfall and almost no visibility.

Elisabeth Goergl of Austria finished in fourth place Saturday, with French veteran Ingrid Jacquemod tied for fifth with Italy's Johanna Schnarf, who was the first to start.

Andrea Dettling was one of the first down on Saturday and crashed near the top section, flying sideways into the netting. But the Swiss skier got back up on her feet after a few seconds without any assistance and appeared unharmed.

Gut was sidelined more than a year after dislocated a hip in a training crash.

She was suspended for two World Cup races this week by the Swiss ski federation for criticizing head coach and former mentor Mauro Pini in interviews. She will miss giant slalom and slalom races Dec. 28-29 in Semmering, Austria.

"I am just trying to give my best and not thinking about what I should say to the newspapers or what I shouldn't say," Gut said. "I'm just skiing for me."

Gut trains away from the national team with a privately funded group of coaches and staff, including her father Pauli.

Saturday's result is by far Janyk's best early this World Cup season, showing the ability that earned two World Cup podium results in her career and a sixth-place downhill finish at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

"Yeah, that's a little more like it," said Janyk, who was uncharacteristically outside the top 30 in three speed races in Lake Louise earlier this month. "I haven't got off to the type of start I was hoping for this season, but this is something that I can definitely build off of. I skied well today and I know that I can be in there, be in the mix. I just need to get back to doing it consistently and today was the first step.”.

Marie-Michèle Gagnon finished 46th in the first World Cup downhill race of her career.

The World Cup event in Val d'Isère concludes Sunday with a super-combined.

Saturday's race is on CBC at 1 p.m. ET and Radio-Canada as well, with coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m. ET. S-Magazine
 
— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Val d'Isere women's World Cup downhill results