Lindsey Vonn's expectations have changed so dramatically during her Olympic return that even finishing on the podium now feels like a disappointment.
The 41-year-old American finished third at Saturday's women's downhill World Cup in Val d'Isere, France, extending a fast start to a season that already included victory And second place within nine days. But after a small mistake at the bottom of the course cost her valuable time, Vonn left the finishing area convinced she had missed out on a potential victory.
Austria's Cornelia Hütter produced the cleanest performance of the day to take her first World Cup win of the season in 1:41.54 on the Oreiller Killy course. Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann finished second, 0.26 seconds back, while Vonn crossed the line 0.35 seconds behind the winner.
Racing in challenging, flat-light conditions, Vonn briefly lost her balance after misjudging the terrain at the bottom of the track, a moment she estimates cost her about half a second. A few minutes earlier, she had thrown up her hands in disbelief when her split time fell behind Weidle-Winkelmann's original time.
“If you had asked me last year if I would have been happy with the podium, I would have said, ‘Absolutely,’” Vonn said later. “But now I know I'm fast. When you make small mistakes, that's the difference between winning and failing.”
The result still marked Vonn's third podium finish in four World Cup races this winter and the 141st of her career, a surprising feat for an athlete who returned to competition last season after nearly six years out of retirement. A year ago, she failed to make the podium in her first 12 races on tour; she now leads the seasonal downhill standings with 240 points.
Hütter, the reigning downhill Crystal Globe winner, was consistently faster than Vonn after the first breakaway and reached a speed of 126 km/h (78 mph) to secure the 10th World Cup victory of her career. The 33-year-old Austrian now has five downhill victories to his name and is emerging as the leading contender for the Olympic downhill title in Cortina d'Ampezzo, scheduled for February 8.
Italy's Sofia Goggia, considered by many to be Hütter's biggest threat, made a costly mistake. Fastest halfway Olympic champion 2018 was forced to almost straighten up while correcting her balance on the exit of the turn, and slid into heavy snow, finishing eighth, 0.62 seconds behind the leader.
For Vonn, the bigger picture remains overwhelmingly positive. After receiving a titanium implant in her right knee, she rediscovered speed and faith, culminating in her first World Cup victory in seven years last weekend in St Moritz. With less than seven weeks until the start of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on February 6, she believes her trajectory is exactly where it should be.
“I’m looking forward to recharging a little bit,” Vonn said. “I know I'll be ready.”
Val d'Isere concludes the women's program on Sunday with a super-G before the World Cup pauses for the holidays with the next speed race scheduled for January in Altenmarkt, Austria.
