Lindsey Vonn set the season-ending World Cup finals alight Thursday with a record-equalling crystal globe, while the thrilling battle for the men and women’s overall titles also took centre stage.
Vonn’s high-octane victory in the super-G, which she had gone into with a narrow eight-point lead over Austria’s Anna Fenninger, took her globe tally to 19, matching the number acquired by Swedish legend Ingemar Stenmark.
It was a remarkable achievement considering Vonn’s chequered 18-month comeback from a serious knee injury sustained in the 2013 world championships which required a second operation.
Winning the two speed globes, she said (having also clinched the downhill on Wednesday), was “incredibly special”.
“It’s exciting to have 19 globes,” said the 30-year-old American after her eighth speed victory (and 10th podium) this season – her record 67th on the World Cup circuit. “To be tied with Ingemar Stenmark is an amazing honour.
“Even though I have 19, these two are the most special for me. I’ve missed pretty much two seasons with two major knee injuries, and pretty much everyone didn’t think I’d be back.
“For those who doubted me, this is a pretty good answer,” she said, adding that she thrived on “high pressure and having to come through”.
“I love these situations! It obviously makes the choice very easy. When I knew Anna was in the lead, I had no other option to go as fast as I could!” said Vonn, who this season had only five days of downhill training and 20 in total.
Vonn’s double crystal globe haul in the speed events mirrored that of Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud, who had already bagged the men’s super-G and netted the downhill on Wednesday.
Unlike Vonn, Jansrud is one of the two rivals fighting for the men’s overall title along with Austrian Marcel Hirscher, while Fenninger is in a showdown with Slovenia’s Tina Maze for the women’s accolade.
Hirscher, leading Jansrud by 34 points, took a big step towards sealing a fourth overall title by finishing an outstanding fourth in the super-G, won by Canada’s Dustin Cook ahead of the Norwegian.
“It remains exciting! 🙂 @Kjansrud #KjetilTheViking #weareskiing,” Hirscher tweeted along with a photo of the two skiers laughing in an embrace.
Jansrud admitted it would be “tough” for him to claim the overall title from the Austrian’s clutches.
“Obviously Marcel had a very impressive super-G race today. He’s a great skier,” he said. “Nothing’s done, anything can happen. I did what I could today and he impressed.
“I’ll go to giant slalom (on Saturday) and do my best and see if I can grab something.
“But having seen Marcel ski giant slalom this season, I sort of need him to fail for me to win which is not a good position to be in. I don’t want to hope that someone else fails so I succeed.
“A lot was probably decided today. I’ll go there on Saturday, attack and see what happens.”
The race for the women’s title is equally close, Fenninger stretching her lead over Maze to 32pts after the duo finished second and third resepctively behind Vonn.
“It was not my best race, but a good one,” said Maze after the super-G, with a drama-filled weekend of racing guaranteed, with the women’s slalom scheduled for Saturday and giant slalom Sunday.