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Vonn victorious in season opener

US skier Lindsey Vonn reached the top of the podium at Lake Louise for the fourth year in a row, storming to victory in the World Cup downhill season opener on Saturday.

Vonn won in 1 minute, 48.69 seconds, while Austria's Renate Goetschl, skiing on a surgically repaired right knee, placed second in 1 minute, 49.47 seconds and Britt Janyk of Canada finished third in 1 minute, 49.96 seconds.

Vonn extended her remarkable winning streak in the Canadian Rockies, where she has won at least one of the two Lake Louise downhill races in 2004-2005, 2005-2006 and last season.

"For me Lake Louise is `that' hill," said Vonn, who changed her name from Kildow to Vonn after getting married in the off-season. "I don't need three training runs. I could race the first day I arrive and be comfortable."

Vonn and Goetschl continued their mastery over the rest of the field and between them they now have nine career wins in downhill and Super-G at Lake Louise.

This was the 23-year-old's sixth career downhill triumph and half of her eight World Cup victories have been on the Whitehorn Mountain slope.

Bitter cold temperatures reached -26oC on Saturday on the sun-splashed 2,814m course.

This was the first career podium finish for Janyk, whose best previous performance was a fourth.
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