A day after her first World Cup victory in nearly eight years, Lindsey Vonn almost made it two in a row.
Vonn was second in the downhill at the World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Saturday, finishing 0.24 seconds behind Emma Aicher of Germany. It was the 140th podium of Vonn’s career.
But Vonn had gotten off-balance off a jump about halfway down the course, and her fight to save her run cost her precious time. Aicher, the next skier after Vonn, took advantage.
The young German skied solidly in the section where Vonn had had trouble, grabbing the lead after the third timing interval. Aicher then poured on the gas, extending her lead in the bottom section of the course.
As Aicher crossed the finish line, Vonn shook her head briefly, knowing her error had cost her another victory.
‘I thought I skied pretty well on top, I just made a mistake in the middle,’ Vonn said. ‘I went in a little bit too direct and wasn’t quite in balance and then I fell on my hip when I landed.’
Still, Vonn maintains the lead in the downhill standings and moved up to 11th in the overall standings.
‘I’m really happy to be on the podium again and I still have the leader bid, so that’s important to me,’ Vonn said.
Fellow American Breezy Johnson just missed the podium, finishing 0.11 seconds behind Goggia in fourth. Bella Wright was 13th, and Jackie Wiles (20th), Keely Cashman (21st) and Allison Mollin (22nd) gave the U.S. women six in the top 25.
Next up is the season’s first super-G on Sunday.