Elisabeth Goergl wins WC super-G

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Sunday, December 21, 2014

VAL D'ISERE, France -- Elisabeth Goergl beat Anna Fenninger by .05 seconds to lead an Austrian 1-2 in a women's super-G race on Sunday, while American Lindsey Vonn crashed during her bid for a record-equaling 62nd career win.

After winning Saturday's downhill, Vonn was looking for a fourth consecutive podium finish and was .01 ahead of Georgl's time on the first split.

"I was a little bit tired, yesterday was a very long day. It takes a lot of energy to be going all day," Vonn said. "I thought I skied pretty well on the top section."

But after going too tightly into a turn, Vonn went inside on her skis and slid off course, prompting gasps from fans at the bottom of the Oreiller-Killy course. The four-time World Cup champion lay on her back for a few moments before getting up, unscathed.

"I was on the limit and hit some softer snow and lost a little bit of elevation, and then I wasn't able to make the gate," the 30-year-old Vonn said. "The most important thing is my knees are good."

Vonn was looking to move level with Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proll for all-time wins.

"I'm still happy with today. I skied well, I skied aggressively," Vonn said. "I'm still going home for Christmas with a very big smile."

Overall leader Tina Maze of Slovenia finished third, .13 behind Georgl.

"The course today was really tricky and I kind of like that," the 33-year-old Goergl said. "I had everything clear in my head and my coaches reported that there were some weird turns and what I had to do."

It was the former super-G world champion's seventh World Cup race win, and her first since winning a super-G in the Italian resort of Cortina d'Ampezzo in January. Goergl finished second in Saturday's downhill.

"It was definitely tricky," Goergl said. "I took a lot of time for the inspection and got some good information on the radio before I was racing."

Olympic super-G champion Fenninger has three podiums this season, having won the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in late October and finishing second in downhill at Lake Louise, Canada, earlier this month.

Swiss skier Lara Gut was looking for her second super-G win of the season and finished .23 behind in fourth.

Italian Nadia Fanchini placed fifth ahead of American Julia Mancuso, who was seeking her second podium of the season.

The course on Sunday, with its fast top section and sudden changes of direction, provided some tricky moments.

Fabienne Suter of Switzerland, Austria's Regina Sterz and German Viktoria Rebensburg, who was third in Saturday's downhill, all made much the same mistake toward the middle of their runs, taking a right turn too fast and veering off course.

"I don't know why the others had so (many) problems. My timing was pretty good," the 25-year-old Fenninger said. "Before the race you never know because Super-G is so different from downhill. Everything has to be perfect on the course. I'm happy to be on the podium."

Maze thought she could have done a little better.

"It was a little tough at the top, I had some trouble," said Maze, the 2013 World Cup winner, who is competing in all five disciplines. "If I hadn't lost too much time, it would have been a better race. There were a lot of changes (of speed) but that's what super-G is about."

Maze leads overall with 656 points; Fenninger is second with 407, while Vonn is third with 312.

"It's hard doing all the events, I didn't have so much energy," Maze said. "If I continue the way I started, I hope to win (the World Cup) again."

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