Vonn sparks American ski surge
Lindsey Vonn won her second straight World Cup downhill title to lead an American surge in the snow Saturday, raising early expectations for the United States at next year's Vancouver Olympics.
Ted Ligety and Bill Demong also enjoyed stellar days. Ligety won a giant slalom for his fourth career victory, and Demong took the gold in the Nordic combined large hill event for his first world title.
One name absent from the big doings was Bode Miller. The defending overall World Cup champion skipped the races in Slovenia, extending his midseason break in the United States to rest and recover from an ankle injury.
By finishing 12th in the downhill at Bansko, Bulgaria, Vonn matched Picabo Street as the only Americans to win the discipline two straight years. Street achieved the feat in 1995 and 1996.
"It felt strange to win the title then without winning the race, but sometimes that's how it goes," said Vonn, who had a fall during training in Bulgaria and severed a tendon in her thumb during the world championships.
Vonn won her 19th World Cup title a week ago to move past Tamara McKinney for the U.S. women's record. Vonn remains on course to successfully defend her overall World Cup title, holding a 336-point lead over Germany's Maria Riesch.
Vonn ended the day 111 points clear of Dominique Gisin in the downhill standings, making it impossible for the Swiss racer to catch her.
"Lindsey skis to win every race and she did that today, too," U.S. speed coach Alex Hoedlmoser said. "This is just such a tough course, everyone had some close calls."
At Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Ligety, the defending giant slalom champion, moved up from third after the first run to finish in a combined time of 2 minutes, 19.92 seconds. He beat Didier Cuche of Switzerland by 0.19 seconds.
Ligety had a nearly flawless second run on the Pokoren course, which was set by U.S. head coach Sasha Rearick.
"It's a fantastic hill, I like it here," said Ligety, who also won in Kranjska Gora last year and whose four victories have all come in GS. "My coach set the second run and it was just how I like it - you know I like those big sweeping turns. I had a couple of bobbles along the way, but I'm really happy."
Demong added a fourth gold to the Americans' already record-breaking haul in Liberec, Czech Republic. The gold could have come sooner if he hadn't flubbed the team competition. Demong was disqualified for losing his bib ahead of his ski jump in the team competition, which ruined the United States' chance of a medal.
In the large hill, Demong erased a 52-second deficit to Jason Lamy Chappuis of France and pulled away from Bjoern Kircheisen of Germany near the end to finish in 23 minutes, 36.6 seconds.
"It was a great way to end the world championship," said Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y. "I knew it would have to be a really, really good race for me to have a chance."
He was in seventh place after the ski jump but closed in on the leaders. Demong made his decisive push shortly before entering the stadium.
"Today really proves how strong our team is," said American Todd Lodwick, who won both previous individual Nordic combined events in Liberec but finished 10th in the large hill.