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Vonn wins in Sochi

18th February 2012, by Chris Gill

Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn put in another successful run that gave the US star her fifth consecutive World Cup downhill title.

Vonn secured sufficient points in the women’s downhill on the Sochi 2014 course in Russia, to take the title before the end of the season. The fact that she didn’t win Saturday’s race just shows how strong in the current standings the US star has been.

With just two races to go in downhill this season, Vonn now holds an unassailable 231-point lead over nearest rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch – who actually won Saturday’s competition.

For her second victory this season and first in downhill, Hoefl-Riesch clocked 1 minute, 49.17 seconds down the Rosa Khutor slope. Elisabeth Goergl of Austria finished second, 0.43 seconds behind, and Vonn was third, 0.59 back.

The start of the race was delayed to clear overnight snowfall off the course. Poor visibility caused further delays and the final 15 starters – the lowest in the rankings (including the home team) – did not get a chance to race.

Vonn’s Russian defence does not stop at the downhill; the season’s final super-combined is scheduled for Sunday. Vonn is currently 55 points in front of Tina Maze of Slovenia and 60 points ahead of Nicole Hosp of Austria, so is fired-up to keep her leading position.

Vonn has an even bigger lead in the overall standings, where she is 448 points ahead of Slovenia’s Tina Maze and 486 points ahead of Hoefl-Riesch. It was Hoefl-Riesch who ended Vonn’s run of three consecutive overall titles last season.

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