2012/2013 Winter Sports Thread

[Smallville22]

Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup

Bright and Johnstone complete Australian double in Colorado

Olympic champion Torah Bright claimed her first halfpipe World Cup win in well over three years as Australia celebrated a double at the second of five rounds on Copper Mountain.
The 26-year-old last tasted World Cup success in Saas-Fee in November 2009 - that her second career victory after a maiden triumph in Bardonecchia more than five years previous.
However Bright, who was ninth in the season opener in Cardrona in August in her first World Cup start since her last win, was on form in Colorado and claimed the win with her first-run effort of 85.75.
American Kelly Clark took second with a score of 82.0 from her second run while Spaniard Queralt Castellet was narrowly behind in third also with her first-run effort of 80.75.
Clark, who won the season opener, sits clear at the top of the overall World Cup standings with 1800 points while Bright is second with 1290 and Castellet third with 1200.

And Nathan Johnstone ensured Australia had two reasons to celebrate in Colorado as he won the men's event to take the overall lead in the World Cup rankings.
Johnstone, the 2011 world champion, had it all to do to claim his fourth career win after American Luke Mitrani posted 92.75 with his first outing with the Australian only managing 85.50.
However Johnstone was more than up to the challenge and produced a score of 94.75 second time out demoting Mitrani to second while another American Louie Vito was third with 86.75.
Johnstone, who was 15th in Cardrona, now has 1160 points with Japan's Shuhei Sato, 12th on Copper Mountain, second with 1020.

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing World Cup

Russia and Norway win tight team sprints

Nikolay Morilov timed his move to perfection to ensure Russia were finally toasting a team victory in this season's cross-country skiing World Cup in Liberec.
Russia entered the third team event of the season in the Czech Republic having finished third in the 4x7.5km relay in Gaellivare and then second in the team sprint in Quebec.
However Morilov got it exactly right at the finish of another team sprint in Liberec as he and Mikhail Devjatiarov, the Russian No.2 pair, won a dash for the line by 0.8 seconds.
The battle for second place was even tighter with the Norwegian No.1 and No.2 pairs involved in a three-way battle with the Russian No.2 duo which resulted in a photo finish.
The Norway No.1 pair of Eirik Brandsdal and Paal Golberg were awarded second ahead of Russians Alexey Petukhov and Nikita Kriukov with Oeystein Pettersen and Anders Gloeersen fourth.

Meanwhile in the women's team sprint Norwegian pair Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg and Maiken Caspersen Falla edged out Scandinavian rivals Stina Nilsson and Ida Ingemarsdotter.
Oestberg and Falla were hardly out of the top three, barring a blip just after halfway, throughout but couldn't shake off the charge Swedish duo Nilsson and Ingemarsdotter.
Falla and Ingemarsdotter eventually broke away together on the final leg with the Norwegian having more in the tank on the home straight to win by 0.6.
The Norwegian pair clocked a winning time of 11:26.2 and, despite settling for second, Sweden had another pair in the top three in the form of Linn Soemskar and Magdalena Pajala.
They edged out Germans Nicole Fessel and Hanna Kolb and Swiss duo Bettina Gruber and Laurien van der Graaff to finish 5.7 behind winners Oestberg and Falla.

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon World Cup

Fourcade completes clean sweep in Ruhpolding

Martin Fourcade denied Dmitry Malyshko victory in a race for the line in the 15km mass start as he took a clean sweep of wins at the fifth biathlon World Cup of the season in Ruhpolding.
The 24-year-old defending World Cup champion began the German round with a triumph as part of France's 4x7.5km relay team before cruising home in first place in the 10km sprint.
He faced his greatest test yet in his final event, the 15km mass start, however he had enough left in the tank to deny a Russian for the second time running in Ruhpolding.
It was far closer than the 10km sprint though with Fourcade and Malyshko neck and neck on the final leg before the Frenchman burst away at the death to win by half a second.
Fourcade and Malyshko broke away from the rest of the field with double Olympic champion Emil Hegle Svendsen the best of the rest in third just over ten seconds behind.
World Cup leader Fourcade placed second after the first and second shoots, which he cleared without a fault, before taking the lead ahead of the third where he repeated the trick.
He fell behind to Malyshko, who missed his one and only target first time in the range, on the fourth final shoot as he took his time before the pair exchanged the lead until the finish.
Fourcade won in a time of 36:27.7minutes and took his points tally at the top of the overall World Cup standings to 564, 75 ahead of Svendsen who occupies second place.


Berger wins again in Ruhpolding

Tora Berger moved to fifth on the all-time biathlon World Cup wins list with victory in the 12.5km mass start in Ruhpolding, her second in Germany and seventh of the season so far.
Norway’s Tora Berger cleaned the final standing stage to take the lead and the victory in the women’s mass start today, with one penalty in 37:14.4. Second went to the fast-finishing Darya Domracheva of Belarus, with two penalties, 26.7 seconds back, while Russia’s Olga Zaitseva was third, with one penalty, 37.8 seconds back.
Fourth went to Ukraine’s Vita Semerenko, with two penalties, 53.5 seconds back. Slovenia’s Teja Gregorin was fifth, with one penalty, 1:01.8 back, just 1.1 seconds ahead of Kaisa Mäkäräinen of Finland, with three penalties. Meanwile Miriam Gossner was 8th, with six penalties.

 

[Smallville22]

Gössner currently on the 9th place. She had a lot of bad shootings so far, but she runs pretty fast. Go baby, go!

Edit: She finished with the 8th place.

Miriam Gössner is flying at the moment, in the last 9 races of World Cup she's always the fastest skier. :bowdown:

 

[Smallville22]

European Allround Speed Skating Championship

Kramer leads in Heerenveen

Sven Kramer produced a storming 5000m to end day one of the defence of his European Allround Speed Skating Championship title on top on home soil in Heerenveen.
Kramer, bidding for his sixth title in seven years, ranked seventh after the opening event, the 500m, as Poland's Konrad Niedzwiedzki posted the fastest time for the second year running.
However the Dutchman was by far the quickest in the 5000m, the event in which he is the reigning Olympic champion, to build a lead of 0.261points and 0.79seconds going into the final two events.
Just like he did in 2012 and 2011, Niedzwiedzki won the 500m to lead Polish teammate Zbigniew Brodka by 0.10seconds with Havard Bokko third and Jan Blokhuijsen fourth.
Kramer was down in joint seventh with David Andersson, 0.77 behind, but is no stranger to bouncing back in the 5000m having been 12th at the same stage last year before taking the lead next time out.
He clocked 6:12.55minutes to jump into first place, almost six seconds quicker than Dutch teammate Blokhuijsen who himself moved from fourth into second with his second-place finish.
Sverre Lunde Pedersen jumped from ninth to fourth, just behind Bokko who maintained third despite finishing seventh, after clocking 6:19.07 for the third quickest time.
Ivan Skobrev, the 2011 champion, moved into fifth with the fifth fastest effort while Niedzwiedzki dropped to sixth after placing 13th with Brodka also falling to ninth after coming in a place behind.
History would now suggest that a sixth European allround title is Kramer's to lose having gone on to win following the 1500m on Saturday and 10,000m on Sunday from a similar position last year.


Wust joins Kramer in taking control at Europeans

Ireen Wust is well placed to win her first European Allround Speed Skating Championship title in five years after showing her consistency to lead after two events on home ice in Heerenveen.
The 26-year-old double Olympic champion is no stranger to the European podium having won six medals since 2006 however only one of them has been gold that coming in 2008 in Kolomna.
In that time Martina Sablikova has won three successive titles but the European crown could well be returning to Dutch hands following Wust's performances in the 500m and 3000m.
Wust placed fourth in the 500m after clocking 39.69 seconds as Sablikova's Czech team-mate Karolina Erbanova posted the quickest time of 38.72 to take the early overall lead.
However Wust was clearly the best in the 3000m with a time of 4:01.25 to head into the 1500m and then the 5000m on Sunday with a points tally of 79.898 and lead of 0.768.
The top four is dominated by the Dutch with Antoinette de Jong, third in the 500m and sixth in the 3,000m, second while Linda de Vries is third and Diane Valkenburg fourth.
Sablikova was the second quickest behind Wust in the 3000m but 16th in the 500m puts her down in seventh overall behind Ida Njatun in fifth and Russia's Yekaterina Lobysheva in sixth.
Meanwhile Olympic champion Sven Kramer moved ever to closer to winning a sixth men's title in seven years with a solid if unspectacular outing in the 1500m.
Kramer, who was seventh in the 500m before storming into the lead following the 5000m, was the eighth quickest in the 1500m after clocking a time of 1:47.49.
That took the Dutchman's points tally to 109.785 for a lead of 0.286 ahead of Havard Bokko, the Norwegian fifth in the 1500m to move up from third to second.
Kramer's compatriot Jan Blokhuijsen swapped places with Bokko after placing tenth in the 1500m while Sverre Lunde Pedersen remained fourth overall with another third.
And Konrad Niedzwiedzki, who posted the quickest time in the 500m for the second time running at the Europeans, jumped up to fifth overall after winning the 1500m in 1:46.32.


Kramer and Wust crowned European champions

Dutch Olympic champions Sven Kramer and Ireen Wust both maintained their advantages to win the European Allround Speed Skating Championship titles on home ice in Heerenveen.
Kramer and Wust both led the men's and women's events heading to the final day with the former retaining his title and the latter returning to the top step of the podium for the first time since 2008.
Olympic 5000m champion Kramer had just the 10,000m to contest and ensured he took his sixth European title in seven years by comfortably winning it in 12:55.98.
Dutch team-mate Jan Blokhuijsen posted the second quickest time, 13:01.60, to leapfrog Havard Bokko and finish in the runner-up spot for the third Championships running.
Bokko fell to third overall, the second successive time he has occupied the last rung of the podium at the Europeans, after ranking fourth in the 10,000m in 13:08.16.
Double Olympic champion Wust meanwhile had two events to contest but took the overall win in similar style after being the quickest in the 1500m and second fastest in the 5000m.
Wust stated her intentions by posting 1:56.39 in the 1500m with Linda de Vries moving up to second overall after ranking second and Diane Valkenburg jumping to third after ranking third.
And that was how the top three was to remain, despite three-time defending champion Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic being the only one to go under seven minutes in the 5000m.
Sablikova clocked 6:57.16 with Wust second quickest with 7:01.95 and de Vries third and Valkenburg fourth as the Czech skater finally relinquished her European title in Heerenveen.

 

[Smallville22]

Sochi 2014 organisers unveil futuristic Olympic torch

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics organisers have unveiled a futuristic torch based on the contrasts of the world's largest country and combining Russian folklore, including a mythical Firebird, with space-age technology.
"The Olympic torch is one of the key symbols of the Games," Sochi 2014 chief Dmitry Chernyshenko said in Moscow's landmark shopping arcade just a few steps from Red Square, with the Kremlin walls in the background. "In our case, it symbolises the beauty and diversity of Russia."
The torch relay, which starts in the ancient Greek town of Olympia on October 7, will be the longest in Winter Olympic history, measuring 65,000 kilometres, more than one and a half times the circumference of the Earth.
The torch will visit Mount Elbrus, Europe's highest mountain, Lake Baikal and the North Pole.
"We hope it might even go out into space," Chernyshenkohe added.
The torch is coloured red and silver. Red is the traditional colour of Russian sport while silver is the most popular in Olympic torch history, the Sochi organisers said.
The torch, weighing nearly 1.8kg, will be carried by 14,000 torchbearers through 2,900 towns and villages across all 83 regions of Russia.
"Our torch is really state-of-the-art. It combines such incompatible things like cold metal with fire, which is very symbolic because for the first time in history Winter Games will be held in a subtropical city," Chernyshenko said in reference to the Russian Black Sea resort.
"In Sochi you can enjoy a warm southern sea as well as high, snow-covered mountains."

 

[Smallville22]

Biathlon - Bjoerndalen to miss Anterselva

Biathlon ace Ole Einar Bjoerndalen will miss the World Cup races in Anterselva this week through illness.
The 38-year-old has been suffering from the flu and he will not be fit enough to compete in the men's events in Italy, starting on Friday.
"We agree that Ole Einar is not fit," coach Roger Grubben said.
"He will go home instead to train and prepare best for the World Championships in Nove Mesto in February."
Norwegian Bjoerndalen currently sits in 22nd place in the standings.


Alpine Skiing - Brignone ruled out of World Championships

Federica Brignone will miss the World Championships in Schladming in February due to a cyst in her foot.
The 22-year-old Italian collected four World Cup podiums in the 2012 season, but will now undergo physiotherapy recuperate at home after an operation on her foot.
Brignone said: “I have spent a week in a real home after hospital. It’s amazing!
“Not being able to play sports means I have been able to sort a lot of things out, watch the races on television and see my friends who I never see.
“I feel better now, and tomorrow I start with physiotherapy in Asti.
“I think the cyst was a message from my body that I obviously needed some rest, so now I will listen to my body a lot more. I don’t want to have any other problems.
“I do not know when I can get back on the slopes, all I know is that I will not participate in Schladming."


Ski Jumping - Schlierenzauer ruled out of Sapporo

Four Hills champion Gregor Schlierenzauer has been ruled out of the two World Cup ski jumps in Sapporo this weekend.
After consulting with his family doctor, the Austrian decided to take a break from competition.
Schlierenzauer's absence means the Austrian team will only take three of its number to Japan - Andreas Kofler, Wolfgang Loitzl and Michael Hayboeck.
Schlierenzauer is aiming to return to the slope for the ski flying event in Vikersund on the weekend of January 26 and 27.
The 23-year-old, who became only the seventh man to successfully defend the Four Hills title, could set the record for World Cup victories and even surpass that in Norway.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Shiffrin wins in Flachau to equal Moser-Proell

Teenager Mikaela Shiffrin entered the record books with her third slalom victory of the season in Flachau on Tuesday.
The 17-year-old American joined alpine skiing great Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria as the only skiers to have won three World Cup slaloms at such a precocious age.
She received a cheque for 58,000 euros, the highest on the women's World Cup circuit, but said she was not in it for the money.
"I'll save the money for my education or maybe pay for a trip to Maui in the Spring. What do I have to do with money at 17? I could give it to my dad to buy me an ice cream," she said after winning in a combined time of one minute and 51.45 seconds.
Sweden's Frida Hansdotter, already a four-time runner-up, missed out on her fist victory by 0.85 seconds to finish second.
Finn Tanja Poutiainen, who started her World Cup career when Shiffrin was only two years old, was third, 1.10 seconds adrift.
Shiffrin's victory was perhaps a little luckier than her previous two as German Olympic champion Maria Hoefl-Riesch was leading comfortably when she straddled a gate near the finish on the second run.
"It's just a game, but it's a fight anyway. I didn't know before the second run if I would have a real chance. I knew that Maria Riesch would be going for it," Shiffrin said.
The German, who had been struggling in recent weeks, tried just a little bit too hard on the tricky, floodlit course set in Austrian great Hermann Maier's home resort.
"I was really fast on the top section," Hoelf-Riesch said. "I found the right pace as I was going down but I took one gate too early and in slalom, you pay a high price straightaway.
"I'm really bitter because nothing was going right in recent weeks. In the first leg I was telling myself things were changing at last," she added.
While Shiffrin strengthened her lead in the slalom standings, overall World Cup leader Tina Maze finished fifth and increased her lead over Hoefl-Riesch to 590 points.
The women's World Cup moves to Cortina d'Ampezzo at the weekend for a downhill and a Super-G.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing - Svindal sets pace at Wengen

Aksel Lund Svindal was quickest in first official training on the famous Lauberhorn slope in Wengen.
The Norwegian powerhouse, who leads the discipline standings after the opening four races, crossed the finish line in 1 minute, 50.92 seconds.
Italian Werner Heel finished second, 0.05 seconds behind Svindal while Kjetil Jansrud was third, .36 second off his team-mate’s pace.
The 78 racers did not practice on the longest course on the men’s circuit as variable weather prompted organisers to start the training run from the Combined start.
There are two more training runs before Friday’s Super Combined followed by Saturday’s downhill, won last year by the Swiss Beat Feuz who is absent due to injury.
Meanwhile, because of large amounts of new snow the first training run for the women's World Cup downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Thursday has been cancelled.

Results:

1 Aksel Lund SVINDAL (NOR) 1:50.92

2 Werner Heel (ITA) 1:50.97

3 Kjetil JANSRUD (NOR) 1:51.28

4 Travis GANONG (USA) 1:51.42

5 Christof INNERHOFER (ITA) 1:51.49

6 Georg STREITBERGER (AUT) 1:51.50

7 Florian SCHEIBER (AUT) 1:51.58

8 Patrick KUENG (SUI) 1:51.65

9 Klaus KROELL (AUT) 1:51.72

10 Brice ROGER (FRA) 1:51.81

 

[Smallville22]

Cross-Country Skiing - Northug out, Bjoergen returns in France

Petter Northug will skip this weekend’s World Cup meeting in La Clusaz but Marit Bjoergen returns to action.
The Norwegian, who trails Alexander Legkov by 40 points in the World Cup standings, will not compete in the 15km mass start or the relay.
Northug, who has finished in the top three in the World Cup in each of the past four seasons but only has the 2009/10 title to his name, will focus on basic training and will participate in the Norwegian Championships the following week before the World Cup resumes in Sochi in February.
Bjoergen is back for the first time since the start of December after the three-time Olympic champion recovered from an irregular heartbeat which saw her briefly hospitalised and miss the Tour de Ski.

Norwegian squad:

Women

Maiken Caspersen Falla

Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen

Martine Ek Hagen

Therese Johaug

Britt Ingunn Nyda

Marit Bjoergen

Kristin Stormer Steira

Vibeke Skofterud

Heidi Weng

Ingvild Flugstad Østberg

Men

Didrik Tønseth

Ronny Fredrik Ansnes

Paal Golberg

Shur Røthe

Eldar Rønning

Martin Johnsrud Sundby

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating European Championships

Volosozhar and Trankov retain European pairs title

Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov continued their great form this season to defend their pairs title in style at the European Figure Skating Championships in Zagreb.
Volosozhar and Trankov put themselves into the perfect position to retain the European Figure Skating Championship title they won for the first time in Sheffield last year after the short program. They recorded a score of 73.23 for the lead with their only realistic challenge in the free skate coming from Aliona Savchenko and Robin Szolkowy, who won the European title in 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2011. However Volosozhar and Trankov, who won the Rostelecom Cup, Skate America and the Grand Prix Final earlier this season, did enough in the free skate to record a personal best combined total that comfortably gave them gold again. The Russian duo scored 139.22 for an overall total of 212.45, which bettered their effort of 212.08 from the 2011 Grand Prix Final and that of Savchenko and Szolkowy. The German pair, who also won European silver in 2010 and 2006, were awarded 135.03 for 205.24 and second place while Stefania Berton and Ondrej Hotarek were well adrift in third. They finished with a total of 187.45 for bronze, almost ten points better than Vanessa James and Morgan Cipres of France, who were ranked fourth after the short program. Meanwhile British duo Stacey Kemp and David King maintained their position of tenth overall with their free skate score of 86.12 giving them a combined total of 131.51. That marked their fourth career top-ten finish at the European Championships, having finished sixth in 2008, eighth in 2011 and ninth last year while they have both suffered an injury-hit campaign.

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating European Championships

Bobrova and Soloviev finally win European gold

Ekaterina Bobrova and Dmitri Soloviev ended three years of hurt at the European Figure Skating Championships as they smashed even more personal bests to narrowly win ice dance gold.
Bobrova and Soloviev have had to settle for European silver for the past two years running however they showed that 2013 might just be their Championships after the short dance on Wednesday. They recorded a personal best score of 69.42 for the lead just ahead of Russian teammates Elena Ilinykh and Nikita Katsalapov who followed suit with an effort of 68.98. And that was how the top two stayed on day three in Zagreb as Bobrova and Soloviev posted a personal best of 99.83 in the free dance that just gave them gold at the fourth time of asking after finishing ninth in 2010. Ilinykh and Katsalapov responded to their compatriots' effort by smashing the 100-point barrier with a routine worth 100.16 but it wasn’t enough to jump up into first place. Bobrova and Soloviev scored a personal best 169.25 in total compared to 169.14 from Ilinykh and Katsalapov, who did upgrade their bronze from last year’s Europeans to silver in Zagreb. Italian duo Anna Cappellini and Luca Lanotte prevented it from being a Russian one-two-three finishing not too far behind the leading two in third with a score of 165.80 overall. Ekaterina Riazanova and Ilia Tkachenko were comfortably behind in fourth while Britain's Penny Coomes and Nicholas Buckland occupied fifth for a career best finish. After a personal best of 60.59 in the short dance they scored 92.36 in the free dance for a career-best combined total of 157.77 that saw them improve on sixth from last year in Sheffield.

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating European Championships

Fernandez becomes Spain's first European champ

Javier Fernandez dominated the free skate to become the first Spaniard to claim the European Championships men's title.
The 21-year-old headed into the final day of action in Zagreb sat behind Frenchman Florent Amodio after the short program.
But all that changed when he got back out on the ice, finishing with 274.87 points, almost 24 points clear of his nearest challenger Amodio, who had to settle for silver after losing his lead to the Spaniard.
Amodio now has the full set in medals from the European Championships, his silver being added to a gold won in 2011 and a bronze he took home last year, while Fernandez's blew his previous best finish of sixth from 2012 out of the water.
And completing the podium in Croatia was Czech skater Michal Brezina as he took home bronze with 243.52 points.

 

[Smallville22]

Figure Skating European Championships

Kostner wraps up fifth European title

Carolina Kostner and the top step of the European Figure Skating Championships podium have gone hand in hand in recent years
And the Italian was at it again as she wrapped up a fifth title in seven years thanks to a personal best free skate in Zagreb, Croatia.
Heading into the final session of the 2013 European Championships Kostner, the current world champion, sat second behind Russian teen sensation Adelina Sotnikova after the short program.
But all that changed as Kostner scored a new best 130.52 points to propel herself into top spot.
Sotnikova was still to skate after Kostner but despite a season's best 126.38 she had to settle for silver.
However there was more joy for Russia as her compatriot Elizaveta Tuktamysheva finished with bronze, while Great Britain’s Jenna McCorkell ended the competition in 21st.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Frenchman Pinturault wins Wengen super-combined

France's Alexis Pinturault made the most of his all-round talent to clinch his third World Cup race in a men's super-combined in Wengen on Friday.
The 21-year-old, one of the most exciting prospects to emerge in the sport in recent years, outclassed his rivals in the afternoon slalom to win in a combined time of two minutes and 41.62 seconds.
While he limited the damage by finishing 22nd in the morning's downhill, 2.07 behind Italy's Christof Innerhofer, Pinturault left his nearest rival, Croatia's Ivica Kostelic, 1.15 adrift after the slalom leg.
Local favourite Carlo Janka, in the doldrums for nearly two years, finished third, 1.49 behind the Frenchman.
"Its not obvious to win a super-combined in Wengen with one of the most difficult downhill courses in the world. I was injured in the summer and did not train at all in downhill until Tuesday's first practice here," said Pinturault, who bruised an ankle playing tennis in August.
"To win ahead of Kostelic is also brilliant since he's a sort of a king here," added the Frenchman, winner of a slalom in Val d'Isere earlier this season.
By finishing second, Kostelic secured his 11th podium in the Swiss resort.
"I'm proud to have achieved this in a such a historical place as Wengen," said the Croatian, who has been nursing an ailing knee since the start of the season but does not intend to have surgery.
"I had a very hard time last month but it's going better and given my injury, the world championships in Schladming have now become a much more important goal."
Kostelic said he had been impressed by Pinturault and was looking forward to an exciting battle in the future between the Frenchman and World Cup holder and leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria, who shunned Friday's race.
For Janka, third place was "a great relief" after two years marred by injuries and personal problems.
"It's a very special sensation, especially here in Switzerland," said the 2010 winner of the overall World Cup big globe.
"This is a great morale booster for me and the whole Swiss team. I skied a good downhill today and it gives me confidence for tomorrow."
Depleted by the retirement of Didier Cuche and the injury of Beat Feuz, the men's Swiss team have yet to win a race this winter.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Vonn back on top in Cortina downhill

Lindsey Vonn returned to her winning ways after a self-imposed Christmas break when she dominated the Cortina d'Ampezzo downhill for the third time.
The American, already crowned in the Italian resort in 2008 and 2010, took her third victory in one minute 38.25 seconds.
While she struggled a bit on her return to competition last weekend in St Anton, Vonn was back to her best on Saturday, collecting her 58th World Cup victory and her fifth this season in the resort where she had the first podium place of her career.
"I learnt in the past month that you must listen to your body," said Vonn, who took three weeks off. "I'm glad I took that break. It's an important lesson for the rest of my career.
"Today I felt almost back to the level in my best seasons, with the same attitude and determination. It was great relief to see the number one at the bottom because it didn't happen so often lately."
World Cup overall leader Tina Maze continued her unstoppable path towards her first big trophy by finishing second, 0.43 seconds adrift.
The Slovenian now leads nearest contender Maria Hoefl-Reisch by a seemingly unbridgeable 670 points as the German failed to complete the course.
"I made a couple of mistakes but in any case Lindsey was unbeatable today," Maze told reporters. "She was back to her usual self. Downhill is my worst event and I finished second so I can't complain."
Vonn's compatriot Leanne Smith was third, 0.89 off the pace, for her second downhill podium of the season.
It was the third time two Americans had been in the top three in the discipline this season and a great confidence booster for the team as this was the last downhill before the Schladming world championships in two weeks' time.
Vonn, four times the overall cup winner, is comfortably leading the downhill World Cup, a title she has won for the past five seasons.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Innerhofer tames Lauberhorn to claim downhill classic

Christof Innerhofer boosted his world championship hopes when he became the first Italian in 16 years to tame the Lauberhorn and win the classic Wengen downhill.
In two minutes 29.82 seconds, the super-G world champion won the fifth Alpine ski World Cup race of his career and the third downhill, two months after his return to the top in Beaver Creek.
Already fastest in Friday's downhill leg of the super-combined here, the Italian emulated his compatriot Kristian Ghedina who won the race in 1997, his second Wengen victory.
"If I could have picked two downhills I would have loved to win in my career, it would probably have been Wengen and Beaver Creek. To win them both in the same year is just amazing," said the 28-year-old Innerhofer.
"Ghedina's name was on the roll of honour of both races as the last Italian to win them. Now it's mine. It's obviously a great morale booster ahead of Kitzbuehel and the world championships in Schladming (from February 5-17)," he added.
Innerhofer was one of the leading lights of the 2011 worlds in Garmisch-Partenkirchen where he won the super-G and finished third in the downhill but later suffered concussion after a crash and struggled to return to his best.
On Saturday, Innerhofer beat two Austrians, 2011 winner Klaus Kroell, who was 0.30 adrift, and Hannes Reichelt, who trailed the Italian by 0.76.
Frenchman Johan Clarey was quickest in the Hanneggschuss, the fastest section on the men's circuit, and set an unofficial speed record in a men's World Cup race of 161.9 kph but had to be content with fifth place at the finish.
Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal, the downhill World Cup leader, crashed after losing a ski shortly after a jump and ended up in the safety nets.
The Norwegian was unhurt but lost precious ground in the overall World Cup, still led by Austria's Marcel Hirscher.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Rebensburg wins foggy Super-G in Cortina

Germany's Viktoria Rebensburg made the most of changing conditions to take her second victory of the World Cup season in a women's Super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The 2010 giant slalom Olympic champion beat snow and fog to clock one minute and 16.45 seconds and snatch her second win in the discipline after the World Cup finals in Schladming last year.
Rebensburg, who also won a giant slalom in Are last month and now has 10 World Cup race wins, beat second-placed Austrian Nicole Schmidhofer by 0.33 seconds.
"Obviously the conditions were special but I think I skied a pretty good run. In the end, only the result matters and it's a good one to take before the world championships", said the German.
Schmidhofer, 23, timed her first podium finish perfectly to boost her chances of being selected for the national team at the world championships on home snow in Schladming in two weeks' time.
World Cup overall leader Tina Maze finished third, 0.01 behind Schmidhofer, for her 15th podium in 23 races this winter.
"I was not feeling too well and I skied a controlled, precise race. I'm proud of being on the podium in these conditions", said the Slovenian, on course for the record of 18 podiums in a season held by Liechtenstein's Hanni Wenzel since 1980.
Maze, now leading Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch by 718 points in the overall World Cup standings - the equivalent of seven victories with only 14 races left - is the only skier ever to have scored top three placings in six different disciplines in the same season.
"Tina is an inspiration because she comes from the giant slalom like me. I hope to become an all-rounder myself in the future," said Rebensburg.
American Lindsey Vonn, winner of Saturday's downhill on the same course, finished seventh, 0.83 off the pace.
The women's circuit moves to Maribor next week, a home weekend for Maze, who made it clear it was one of her main goals of the season.
"To race in front of my home crowd as the World Cup leader will be one of the highlights of the season for me. I'm really looking forward to it," she said.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Neureuther emulates father with Wengen win

Germany's Felix Neureuther won the classic Wengen World Cup slalom on Sunday, 39 years on from his father Christian's last victory there.
Winner of the men's parallel event at home in Munich on New Year's Day, Neureuther skied a near-perfect second run to beat favourite and first leg winner Marcel Hirscher of Austria by 0.21 seconds.
Croatia's Ivica Kostelic, a four times winner of the slalom in the Swiss resort, was third and 0.25 behind Neureuther's winning combined time of one minute and 50.53 seconds. It was his 12th podium in Wengen.
The win was the fourth in the World Cup for 28-year-old Neureuther, the son of German slalom specialists Christian and Rosi Mittermaier.
Christian Neureuther won six World Cup slaloms in his career, including Wengen twice in 1973 and 1974.
"More than a dream, to win here was a goal," said Neureuther, who had already emulated his father in 2010 when he won his first World Cup slalom in Kitzbuehel.
"Classics like Wengen are special. I already found that out when I won in Kitzbuehel. But to be on the podium with Marcel, who looked unbeatable in the last three races, and Kostelic, who has won so many times here means a lot," he added.
Thanks to his second place, World Cup holder Hirscher increased his lead in the overall standings to 188 points over Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal.
The men's circuit moves to Kitzbuehel next weekend for a Super-G, a downhill, a slalom and a super-combined.
"To win one week before Kitzbuehel and two weeks before the world championships is obviously significant. But there's no rivalry between Marcel and I, we're great friends, often training together," said Neureuther.
"We're just trying to offer a great show," added the German, who trails the Austrian by 114 points in the slalom World Cup.

 

[Smallville22]

Alpine Skiing World Cup

Svindal wins Kitzbuehel super-G

Aksel Lund Svindal took his first victory on the Hahnenkamm mountain on Friday, winning a World Cup super-G race.
The Norwegian Olympic champion, who was on the podium in the same race in 2009 and 2011, clocked the fastest time of one minute 14.48 seconds to make up for his disappointment in Wengen last weekend when he crashed out of the Lauberhorn downhill.
It was Svindal's fourth top spot of the season and the third in a super-G, and allowed him to narrow the gap on overall World Cup leader Marcel Hirscher of Austria to 88 points.
"It's a really important win because I've been asked so many times why I didn't deliver in Kitzbuehel," Svindal said.
"It's astounding because I had been doing well in super-G in the past but I'm doing even better. With three wins in the discipline, I've reached another level this season."
Svindal crushed the crowd's hopes of a first Austrian victory on the Streif piste in four years, beating local favourite Matthias Mayer by 0.13 seconds.
Mayer, 22, had never done better than sixth in a World Cup super-G before.
Christof Innerhofer, who will defend his world title in Schladming in less than two weeks, was third.
The podium place was some compensation for the Italian who was furious at being fined and allocated a high bib number for Saturday's downhill here as punishment for starting Thursday's practice while a yellow warning flag was up.
"I'm really angry and surprised at the way things turned out," said Innerhofer whose prospects on Saturday will be seriously hampered by the sanction.
"I really hope I still have a slight chance for tomorrow," said Innerhofer, who won the Beaver Creek and Wengen downhills this season.