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Vonn Back on Top in Cortina

By Tom Kelly
January, 19 2013

CORTINA d'AMPEZZO, Italy (Jan. 19) - Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) climbed back on the top step of the podium Saturday winning the Cortina downhill with teammate Leanne Smith (N. Conway, NH) third - her second podium of the season. It was the 58th career Audi FIS Alpine World Cup win for Vonn - fifth of the season - and left four Americans in the top six in the Audi FIS Alpine World Cup downhill standings. Super G is on tap for Sunday in Cortina. The Universal Sports Network will air coverage at 9:00 a.m. EST with a re-air at 1:30 a.m. Saturday evening.

HIGHLIGHTS

  • Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) won her fifth Audi FIS Alpine World Cup of the season with nearly a half second margin over World Cup overall leader Tina Maze of Slovenia. Leanne Smith (N. Conway, NH) was third for her second podium of the year.
  • It was Vonn's 58th career World Cup win leaving her just four short of the women's record held by Austrian Annemarie Moser-Proell.
  • Despite missing a large number of races due to illness this season, Vonn still stands fourth in the World Cup overall standings, leading three Americans into the top 10.
  • Vonn continues to lead to World Cup downhill standings with Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) second, Alice McKennis (Glenwood Springs, CO) fourth and Smith sixth.
  • In the final World Cup downhill before the World Championships, Julia Mancuso (Squaw Valley, CA) was ninth, McKennis 11th, Cook 15th and Laurenne Ross (Bend, OR) 27th.
  • Action continues in Cortina Sunday with a super G.
  • Universal Sports Network will air coverage at 9:00 a.m. EST with a re-air at 1:30 a.m. Saturday evening.


QUOTES
Lindsey Vonn
It was a perfect day. Right away from inspection the sun was shining and the snow was perfect. I feel so comfortable here in Cortina and I knew it would be a good day. I just skied the best I could, executed my plan and it worked out.

I risked a lot but could have been a little more clean on the top section. I skied a really good line on the bottom and was able to carry good speed to the finish.
 
It feels good to be back on the podium especially with my teammate Leanne. It's a great day for the Team.

Leanne Smith
<on the strength of the U.S. Ski Team>We were joking about this yesterday on how to best answer this question. First we were like 'we listen to Justin Bieber together, or we all sleep in one big bed every night, or we have these rituals.' But, no...

There's a lot of hard workers on this team. Everybody wants to help each other out and see each other do well. The hard work - be it in the gym in the summer or Portillo or New Zealand in the summer - being confident in any sport, and skiing with all the variables, you need to be in the right mindset and be confident in your abilities. When you see a teammate come down and podium you say 'hey, I can do that, too.' When you see that with Lindsey and Julia every day, you watch them ski and see what they do, you can emulate that. Obviously they've had a lot of success in the past so there's a lot to be taken from them.
 
It's kind of nice to be on the U.S. Ski Team right now. We're having fun.

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Lindsey Vonn
Known as one of the world's most successful female ski racers, Lindsey Vonn is coming out of retirement to rejoin the Stifel U.S. Ski Team.