Maria Riesch of Germany beat Lindsey Vonn of the US by nearly half a second in the final downhill of the season to keep the race for the overall title alive between the two Olympic champions and good friends.
Vonn, who took gold in the Olympic downhill, could have clinched her third straight overall title yesterday but she still retains a 225-point lead going into the final three races. A win is worth 100 points.
Riesch claimed an emphatic victory on her home course, leaving Vonn and the rest of the field far behind. Vonn had already clinched the downhill title.
“When I crossed the line I did not look at the board immediately but when I saw that I was more than a second ahead, I thought I could win this race,” Riesch said.
“If Lindsey is half a second behind, I must have had a really good race,” said Riesch, who won slalom and combined gold medals at the Vancouver Olympics.
Anja Paerson of Sweden was third, more than a second behind Riesch.
Although Riesch cut Vonn’s overall lead by 20 points, the German said she had given up hope of collecting that title.
“I am still 200 points behind, I don’t think it’s possible. The pressure is off. I am proud of today’s win, this is the course for next year’s World Championship and it’s good to know that I can be fast on it,” Riesch said.
Riesch came down the sun-drenched 2,920m long Kandahar course in one minute, 34.82 seconds. Vonn was 0.48 seconds behind and Paerson 1.13 back.
Julia Mancuso of the US, the Olympic silver medalist, finished fifth, while bronze medalist Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was the only racer to crash but did not appear to be hurt.
Vonn clinched the downhill title last Saturday in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, which was her sixth downhill win of the season. She won all but two races.
The American is also sure of the super-G title.
Also See: Switzerland’s Carlo Janka wins final downhill of season
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