Vonn Starts Quest For Record Medal Haul

With 18 wins, Vonn has now joined Tamara McKinney as the most successful American skier in the women`s World Cup.

Lindsey Vonn starts her quest to become the first woman to win five medals at the same Alpine skiing world championships in Tuesday's opening super-G.

American Vonn, once a speed specialist but now a true all-rounder, is in market for a medal in every event at the Feb. 3-15 championships in this resort in the French Alps.

Since there have been five races at world championships with the introduction of the super-G in 1987, only one man, Norway's Lasse Kjus in 1999 in Vail, Colorado, has made the podium in every event.

The overall World Cup holder and leader, Vonn warmed up for her Val d'Isere campaign in perfect fashion, winning a super-G in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Sunday, two days after claiming a slalom in the German resort.

With 18 wins, Vonn has now joined Tamara McKinney as the most successful American skier in the women's World Cup.

Sweden's Anja Paerson, the ultimate one-day race specialist with three golds to defend in Val d'Isere, underlined that she should not be written off by finishing second to Vonn on Sunday.

Another top contender is fellow Swede Jessica Lindell-Vikarby, who came third in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and had won the previous super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo, with Italy's Nadia Fanchini and Swiss newcomer Lara Gut also medal prospects.

The race will take place on the intriguing Solaise Piste, on which no top-level race has ever been staged.

Organisers were confident the race, scheduled to start at 1200 GMT, would take place despite a mixed forecast with fairly strong winds.