Lindsey Vonn wins 3rd straight overall World Cup
Lindsey Vonn wins 3rd straight overall World Cup
By NESHA STARCEVIC (AP) GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany — Lindsey Vonn won her third straight overall World Cup title.
The U.S. Olympian was assured of the overall triumph when rival and friend Maria Riesch fell out of the top two in Friday’s super-G. Riesch finished fourth, giving Vonn an unassailable lead of 215 points in the standings going into the last race of the season, Saturday’s slalom.
Vonn, who won the final super-G of the season Friday, also won titles in the downhill, the super-G and combined events this season. She’s now also the American with most World Cup wins at 33. Bode Miller, who skipped the final week of racing, has 32.
“I gave it all I had. I have nothing more,” Vonn said. “I am the most successful American ever and I am very, very happy.”
Vonn became the first woman to win three straight overall titles since Petra Kronberger of Austria in 1990-92.
Riesch needed to finish in the top two to remain in the hunt. She finished fourth.
Vonn won the super-G on the Kandahar course in 1 minute, 19.30 seconds. Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was second in 1:19.46 and Nadia Styger of Switzerland took third in 1:19.87, .02 seconds ahead of Riesch.
“I am a little upset because I had really good race at the top but I made a mistake at the bottom, near the finish line,” Riesch said. “But I still have a chance for the slalom title tomorrow.”
Vonn won four of seven super-G races this season. She also won the downhill gold medal at the Vancouver Olympics and the bronze in the super-G.
She was the last racer to go down the Kandahar hill Friday and could have chosen not to race because she already knew she had the title.
“I was so nervous because the overall World Cup title was on the line,” Vonn said. “An overall title is one of the biggest things you can win in our sport.”
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