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March 12, 2009 — ARE, Sweden - Newly crowned World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) came through with her fifth super G win in a row Thursday to clinch the Audi FIS World Cup super G title during the final event of the season in Sweden.
"It's incredible. I was hoping so much I could win today and get the super G globe. No American female has ever done that," Vonn said. "Today is a huge day for me. I'm so happy. What a week it's been so far."
Vonn, who marked her 22nd career World Cup win with Thursday's finish, had won the previous three World Cup super G races of the season as well as World Championships super G to claim her fifth consecutive victory. The win was also Vonn's ninth of the season, a new American record over Phil Mahre's eight season wins in 1982.
"Going into the season I started off in super G not so strong. Then I picked up a rhythm and I stuck with it. To have five wins back-to-back is more than I thought possible," Vonn said.
With Nadia Fanchini in the lead as Vonn got into the start gate Thursday, the super G World Champion needed to finish second or better in order to clinch the globe.
"It was a tough fight. I knew that Nadia was in the lead and she was only 40 points behind me, so I knew I had to win if I wanted to get the title," Vonn said. "I knew she had had a great run and that it was going to take an even greater run to beat her. I think it was a bit of an advantage starting later today even though the course got slower. I knew exactly what the other women had done and I knew exactly what kind of a run it would take to win the race."
Vonn took a commanding lead in each of the splits, but a mistake near the bottom cost her a majority of her edge, leaving her to finish with a slim .08 margin over the Italian.
"I think I skied the top really well. After I went off the first jump I knew I was going pretty fast because I got really good air," Vonn said. "I fought the whole way. I made a big mistake at the bottom and almost crashed, but I kept it together and made it to the finish. It was an incredible feeling to come down and know that I had just won the super G title."
With the addition of her third globe, Vonn is now tied with Phil Mahre's 1982 record for most World Cup titles in a season.
"It's been an incredible two days and to finish the season this strong is amazing. It's more than I thought was possible and to be so strong in super G this year is incredible," Vonn said.
Audi FIS World Cup Finals in Sweden continue Friday with women's slalom, which fans can catch live on UniversalSports.com with first run starting at 4 a.m. ET and second run at 6:30 a.m. ET.
"I still have the slalom tomorrow, which is really important to me because I want to hang on to that second spot behind Maria. Slalom is always challenging, especially with two races already back to back," Vonn said. "But I don't have anything to lose. I already won, so I'm just going to go out there and try to ski the best race that I can and still have fun."
AUDI FIS ALPINE WORLD CUP FINALS RESULTS
Are, Sweden - March 12, 2009
Super G
1. Lindsey Vonn, Vail, CO, 1:20.63
2. Nadia Fanchini, Italy, 1:20.71
3. Maria Riesch, Germany, 1:20.87
4. Renate Goetschl, Austria, 1:21.27
5. Anja Paerson, Sweden, 1:21.52
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