Vonn Claims Maiden Gold In Super-G

Vonn mastered a treacherous piste to clock a winning time of one minute 20.73 seconds to take her first title at a major event.

American Lindsey Vonn started her quest for a record medal haul at the Alpine skiing world championships by winning the opening women's super-G on Tuesday.

Vonn mastered a treacherous piste to clock a winning time of one minute 20.73 seconds to take her first title at a major event and stay on course to become the first woman to make the podium in all five disciplines at the same championships.

France's Marie Marchand-Arvier, the second racer to start, made the most of perfect conditions on a sun-lit course while her rivals had to deal with poorer visibility and thrilled the home fans with a surprise silver medal, 0.34 seconds back.

Austria's Andrea Fischbacher took the bronze, 0.40 seconds behind the winner, in a race that saw several competitors ski out, among them Swede Anja Paerson, who had won the last two world titles for the event.

Vonn, the overall World Cup champion and leader, captured her first gold medal after winning two silvers in downhill and super-G, each time behind Paerson, at the previous worlds two years ago in Are, Sweden.

"I saw all the others having problems and many going out and I started wondering what would happen to me," said Vonn, the 21st to start in a race that high-profile rivals such as fellow American Julia Mancuso and Austria's Renate Goetschl also failed to finish.

The 24-year-old, once a speed specialist but now a true all-rounder, won her third race in five days after taking a World Cup slalom on Friday and a super-G on Sunday in the German resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

The skier from St Paul, Minnesota, who said before coming here that she thought she could win five medals, was the only favourite to cope with the delicate turns down the steep, icy Solaise piste, staging a top-level race for the first time.

"AMAZING RUN"

"It was really difficult because you couldn't see well," Vonn said after becoming the first American woman to win a world title since Hilary Lindh's downhill victory at the 1997 championships in Sestriere, Italy.

"I knew I needed an amazing run and I had it. I'm so relieved to have won a gold medal at last."

A noisy crowd went wild after the unheralded Marchand-Arvier clocked the fastest time and held it until Vonn came down.

"I skied well on the top section but then I made a mistake and I didn't think it would be good enough for a podium," said the Frenchwoman, regarded more as a downhill racer.

"This is beyond my wildest dreams, especially in the super-G, which is not my best event."

Provisional RESULTS of the World championship Women's Super G race in Val d'Isere, France on
Tuesday.
  1.  Lindsey Vonn (U.S.)              1 minute 20.73 seconds
  2.  Marie Marchand-Arvier (France)   1:21.07
  3.  Andrea Fischbacher (Austria)     1:21.13
  4.  Anna Fenninger (Austria)         1:22.01
  5.  Tina Maze (Slovenia)             1:22.06
  6.  Elisabeth Goergl (Austria)       1:22.27
  7.  Lara Gut (Switzerland)           1:22.34
  8.  Maria Riesch (Germany)           1:22.44
  9.  Nadia Fanchini (Italy)           1:22.75
10.  Viktoria Rebensburg (Germany)    1:22.80
11.  Fabienne Suter (Switzerland)     1:22.90
12.  Jessica Lindell-Vikarby (Sweden) 1:22.91
13.  Emily Brydon (Canada)            1:22.95
14.  Carolina Ruiz Castillo (Spain)   1:23.37
15.  Sarka Zahrobska (Czech Republic) 1:23.53
16.  Marion Rolland (France)          1:23.86
17.  Britt Janyk (Canada)             1:24.58
18.  Edith Miklos (Romania)           1:24.69
19.  Ingrid Jacquemod (France)        1:24.70
20.  Chemmy Alcott (Britain)          1:25.19
21.  Wendy Siorpaes (Italy)           1:25.35
22.  Stacey Cook (U.S.)               1:25.38
23.  Kelly Vanderbeek (Canada)        1:25.83
24.  Aurelie Revillet (France)        1:26.28
25.  Klara Krizova (Czech Republic)   1:26.48