Story highlights
American skier Lindsey Vonn wins her 57th World Cup race on Saturday
The defending champion is now 167 points behind overall leader Tina Maze
The Slovenian was second in Super G after winning Friday's Super Combined
Vonn is making up for lost time after an illness earlier this season
Lindsey Vonn has a lot of ground to make up if she is to win her fifth World Cup crown, but the American skier is giving it her all.
Having failed to finish Friday’s Super Combined race at Saint Moritz in Switzerland, the 28-year-old bounced back to win the Super G event on Saturday to stay in overall title contention.
Vonn is 167 points behind leader Tina Maze of Slovenia, who followed up her Friday with with second place ahead of another U.S. skier, Julia Mancuso, on a course shortened due to poor visibility.
It was Vonn’s 57th World Cup race victory, the second best tally in women’s alpine racing, and her 20th in a discipline that she has dominated for the past four years.
She is now third overall, four points behind Germany’s Maria Hofl-Riesch, as she battles back after her early season was hit by a serious stomach ailment that put her in hospital.
Last year Vonn won her fourth World Cup title ahead of Maze and Hofl-Riesch.
“I was really disappointed yesterday after the super-combined and I knew there were some who could go really fast in super-G like Tina and Julia,” Vonn, who won all three races at Lake Louise in Canada last weekend, told reporters.
“I am just happy to get another win. I lost three races when I was ill in mid-November and I have had to battle my way back. Records are very important for me and I want to win as many races as possible.”
The women will compete in the giant slalom on Sunday.
Meanwhile, France’s Alexis Pinturault claimed only the second World Cup win over his career when he triumphed in the men’s slalom at Val d’Isere on Saturday.
The 21-year-old, who is recovering from an ankle injury, headed off Germany’s Felix Neureuther and Austria’s World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher.
Overall leader Aksel Lund Svindal did not compete, but the Norwegian will return to action for Sunday’s giant slalom.