The pressure was on for Lindsey Vonn at the World Cup Finals in Meribel, France on Thursday. Just minutes before Vonn stepped up to the gate, Austrian Anna Fenninger secured a solid .71 lead for first.
“I knew I had to risk everything if I wanted to get the title,” said Lindsey Vonn. “I risked it all.”
Vonn gave it her all, capturing a record-tying 19th World Cup crystal globe by earning her record-extending 67th World Cup victory, a super-G at the World Cup Finals. After 67 seconds of all-out skiing, Vonn crossed the finish line and saw she had overtaken Fenninger — easily by .49 seconds.
The two titles capped a comeback season for Lindsey after knee surgery just 13 months earlier, following a 2013 crash at the World Championships in Schladming, Austria. Vonn had come back for the 2014 Olympic season, but re-injured her knee, forcing her to sit out Sochi
Vonn’s 19 World Cup titles is the most of any woman in history, and matches the mark set by Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark.
“This is the most meaningful of the globes I’ve won,” Vonn said in the finish area Wednesday. “To be injured for the last two years and to come back from two major knee surgeries, it just feels amazing to be standing here.”
Anna Fenninger snatched the overall women’s World Cup title on Sunday in a nail-biting finale to the Alpine skiing season.
Lindsey Vonn’s Audi FIS Ski World Cup Titles:
