McKennis Posts Career Best As Vonn Sits Out

VAL D’ISERE, France (Dec. 17, 2017) – Alice McKennis (New Castle, Colo.) posted a career-best FIS Ski World Cup super-G result, finishing 15th in Val d’Isere Sunday. Jackie Wiles (Aurora, Ore.) was 17th, and Laurenne Ross (Bend. Ore.) was 29th.

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, Colo.), who won her 78th career World Cup race Saturday, opted to sit out Sunday’s event. “Unfortunately I’m not racing today,” Vonn posted on Twitter. “Knee is a bit sore from yesterday so to be on the safe side I’m going to give my body some rest. My focus is on the Olympics so no need to risk anything now.”

Austria’s Anna Veith won her third career World Cup super-G, which was once again contested on the same abbreviated course the women ran on Saturday. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein was second, and Italy’s Sofia Goggia, who was second behind Vonn Saturday, finished third.

For the second consecutive day, the soft-grippy snow caught a number of competitors off guard, including Germany’s Viktoria Rebensburg, who started with bib 1 and crashed midway down the track after catching an edge. Defending World Cup giant slalom champion Tessa Worley of France also crashed out.

For McKennis though, the course conditions proved to her liking, as she came out of the 37th start position, and put her early season woes behind.

“The beginning of the season didn’t go super great for me at Lake Louise, and that was pretty frustrating considering how well I had been skiing,” said McKennis, a solid downhiller who has now scored World Cup points in three of the four super-G races this season. “Coming into the races this weekend, I tried to take a step back and figure out what the issue was, and I think a lot of it was I was just trying too hard.

“Every time I was out on the race course I was pushing myself so hard, that I wasn’t even skiing well anymore,” she continued. “So this weekend, I really focused on the skiing, and skiing for myself and not thinking that I needed to push myself harder than what I do in training. That started to make me feel more comfortable and confident in what I was doing out there.”

Ross, who was eighth in Saturday’s super-G, also banked some confidence from Sunday’s result as she continues her comeback from last season’s significant knee injury.

“I’m pretty strong, but I’m still working to get my knee into shape,” Ross said. “I'm definitely not 100-percent, but that being said, with every day I gain a bit more confidence and that helps me to trust myself a little bit more. Even though I know that my knee is not 100-percent, I can still ski fast and I can still push myself.”

Up next, the women head to Courchevel, France, for a giant slalom and a parallel slalom under the lights Monday and Tuesday. Current overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin and Resi Stiegler are expected to compete. The next speed series is scheduled for Jan. 13-14 with downhill and super-G in Bad Kleinkircheim, Germany.

RESULTS
Women's super-G

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
Dec. 18 
12:30 p.m. - Men’s parallel giant slalom, Alta Badia – olympicchannel.com

Dec. 19
7:00 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom, Courchevel – olympicchannel.com

Dec. 20
12:00 p.m. Women’s parallel slalom, Courchevel – olympicchannel.com

WOMEN’S SUPER-G - OLYMPIC SELECTION
Dec. 17, 2017 - (after 3 races; 2 races remaining in qualifying period)
Up to three athletes in each event will be selected based on following criteria in sequential order. Top two athletes based on current World Cup rankings at the start of Olympics will have automatic start right in the event. Up to four may be entered in the Olympic event.

Full Alpine Selection Criteria

Top Three Finish (indicates number of finishes in criteria category)
Lindsey Vonn (1)

Top Five Finish
Mikaela Shiffrin (1)

Top 10 Finish
Laurenne Ross (1)

Current World Cup Points Ranking

10. Lindsey Vonn (107)
18. Mikaela Shiffrin (56)
25. Laurenne Ross (35)
30. Alice McKennis (27)
36 Jackie Wiles (14)
39. Breezy Johnson (8)
41. Alice Merryweather (7)

Remaining Races
Jan. 14, 2018 - Bad Kleinkircheim, Austria
Jan. 21, 2018 - Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy