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Vonn 2nd to Nearly Lock Title

Thu 13th, March 2008

Bormio, Italy (Sports Network) - Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) saved her best super G in over a year for World Cup Finals, finishing second and virtually locking up the Audi FIS World Cup title. Her finish eliminated defending champion Nicole Hosp of Austria from contention, and left her 197 points ahead of German Maria Riesch with two events remaining.

Vonn shocked the field, coming down 15th and taking the lead. Riesch, the World Cup super G leader, couldn't match the American and eventually finished sixth. Only Swiss Fabienne Sutter was able to knock Vonn out of the winner's spot to take her second career super G win.

"It was definitely a good time to pull through in super G," said Vonn. "I've been working with Rossignol on my skis and it paid off. We did some testing before Crans-Montana and I changed my ski setup around a little bit. And my skis were really fast today!"

The course was rugged and soft but Vonn was happy with her tactics. "My goal was to ski solid and not risk a lot, just to stay ahead of the course," she said. "I was active and aggressive with the way I skied. But I kept my line conservative in places. It was cool that we were able to run the men's course."

While a win would have wrapped up the Audi FIS World Cup title for Vonn mathematically, she still has a virtual lock. Riesch is the only remaining contender. The German would need to win both Friday's slalom and Saturday's giant slalom. And Vonn can clinch it herself with a single top 15 finish in one of the two remaining events.

But the mathematics are just a formality. Both Hosp and Riesch congratulated Vonn in the finish as the new World Cup champion.

"Nikki came up to me in the winner's circle to congratulate me on a great season," said Vonn. "She was really, really nice. She was a very gracious champion today and that was cool. Maria also congratulated me on the overall and I did the same for her on the super G title."

The U.S. Ski Team's Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) was seventh with Stacey Cook (Mammoth Mountain, CA) 13th, matching her best finish of the season.

Vonn and Bode Miller (Bretton Woods, NH) find themselves in similar situations. Vonn holds a 197 margin over Riesch, and Miller is 191 ahead of Swiss Didier Cuche. Both need only a single top 15 finish in either of the final two races to clinch.

Vonn will be in her most challenging discipline, slalom, on Friday. Vonn has not been inside the top 15 this season in a slalom, but was fourth fastest in her last combined slalom outing. She has 10 career top 15 slalom finishes. Riesch, meanwhile, has not had a top 15 GS this year but was on a slalom podium.

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