Industry News
Lindsey Vonn reignited her Olympic hopes with a victory in the downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy on Saturday, only her second downhill win in a year and moves to within seven of the record of World Cup wins.
This latest victory takes her tally to 79 World Cup victories, the most of any woman and second only to the 86 of Swedish slalom legend Ingemar Stenmark.
The 33-year-old, now the oldest woman to win a World Cup downhill, clocked 1 minute 36:48 seconds to beat Liechtenstein’s Tina Weirather for her 40th World Cup downhill win, with another American, Jacqueline Wiles, in third for only her second career podium spot.
“My focus right now is so much on the Olympics that I haven’t really thought about it that much this season,” Vonn said of Stenmark’s record. “After the Olympics, that will be my No. 1 priority again and I’ll try to rack up as many wins as possible before I retire.”
Vonn has had a mixed season despite winning a super-G in Val d’Isere, France in December. She came in following an injury-disrupted 2017 after breaking her arm and is still skiing with a brace on her right knee to aid a long-term problem.
It was the second day in a row that the Americans took two spots on the podium. On Friday, Vonn was second and Vail’s Mikaela Shiffrin was third. On Saturday, Shiffrin had to settle for seventh place, but Vonn was joined on the podium by Jackie Wiles of Aurora, OR.
Hopefully, this victory is the start of a run of good form that she will take to South Korea next month.
All-time World Cup wins
86 — Ingemar Stenmark, Sweden, 1973-89
79 — Lindsey Vonn, Vail, 2001-present
62 — Annemarie Moser-Proell, Austria, 1969-80
55 — Vreni Schneider, Switzerland, 1984-95
54 — Hermann Maier, Austria, 1996-2009
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