VAL D’ISERE, France (AP)—Lindsey Vonn began her day with Austrian TV cameras trained on her as she left the team hotel in early light. She then headed to the course as the overwhelming favorite in the super-combi at the world championships.
All was going according to plan Friday when Vonn led the downhill portion of the race. Hours later, she was disqualified from the slalom for splitting a gate.
“I’ve been feeling so great this week that to come down hard like that today is hard to take,” Vonn said. “I was really confused for a while and really frustrated. That’s the thing with slalom. Anything can happen.”
Austria’s Kathrin Zettel was the surprise winner, posting the fifth-fastest downhill and third-fastest slalom.
Zettel had a combined time of 2 minutes, 20.13 seconds. Lara Gut, a 17-year-old Swiss, finished second, 0.56 seconds behind, and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was third, 0.88 back. The top U.S. finisher was Stacey Cook in 16th place.
All was going according to plan Friday when Vonn led the downhill portion of the race. Hours later, she was disqualified from the slalom for splitting a gate.
“I’ve been feeling so great this week that to come down hard like that today is hard to take,” Vonn said. “I was really confused for a while and really frustrated. That’s the thing with slalom. Anything can happen.”
Austria’s Kathrin Zettel was the surprise winner, posting the fifth-fastest downhill and third-fastest slalom.
Zettel had a combined time of 2 minutes, 20.13 seconds. Lara Gut, a 17-year-old Swiss, finished second, 0.56 seconds behind, and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria was third, 0.88 back. The top U.S. finisher was Stacey Cook in 16th place.
“It wasn’t realistic for me to win gold in the combined,” Zettel said. “There were so many other favorites—Lindsey and (Maria) Riesch and (Anja) Paerson. For sure, not me.”
Riesch finished fourth while defending champion Paerson missed a gate in the downhill.
Zettel was ahead when Vonn came down as the final skier in the slalom leg. The American started with a 1.48-second advantage but made two big errors on the upper section of the course. She appeared to split the gate in an effort to regain time.
“She was just a little bit out of position and the pitch quickly shot her out,” U.S women’s head coach Jim Tracy said. “She was just confused.”
Zettel saw Vonn struggling and later recounted what she said to herself: “Oops, that could be good for me.”
It wasn’t immediately clear Vonn had split a gate, and the leader board initially flashed her time as second. Vonn posed for pictures as if she had won the silver medal.
“It’s mixed emotions and a pretty disappointing day all in all,” Vonn said. “I did all the photos for second place and was pretty happy even though I thought I could have won. Then I went inside and my husband told me I didn’t make the gate.”
Vonn’s coaching staff went into the race jury room to check the tape and decided not to appeal after confirming Vonn did indeed split.
“Today’s result was just one of those things that happen to all ski racers, especially in slalom,” Vonn’s husband, Thomas, a former U.S. ski racer, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
“Ski racing is a tough sport, you can win 59 out of 60 gates, straddle the last gate, and it is considered a terrible day. Lindsey knows that you have to be able to roll with the punches in this sport and is prepared to do that.”
Vonn opened the championships by winning the super-G Tuesday and was aiming for her fourth consecutive victory in a week, having also posted World Cup wins in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, last weekend. She will still be the favorite for Sunday’s downhill.
“I’m going to work hard and do everything I can to be on the podium in that race,” Vonn said.
Zettel finished fourth in the traditional combined at the 2006 Turin Olympics and was fifth in super-combi at the last worlds in Are, Sweden, two years ago. She has won five World Cup races, all in giant slalom.
Gut nearly matched Vonn in the downhill, finishing 0.14 behind, and attacked in the slalom leg, even though she has never entered a World Cup slalom.
Gut said her thoughts at the start turned to teammate Daniel Albrecht, who is in an induced coma following a crash in downhill training last month. Albrecht won the super-combi at the last worlds.
“I thought now I can do what he did in Are. I wanted to give everything,” Gut said. “I had nothing to lose. I thought I’ll give everything. If I drop out, never mind. And if I’m good it’s even better. I didn’t think much and just tried to let the skis go.”
This was the first medal at a worlds or Olympics for Goergl, who has won two World Cup giant slaloms. She is the daughter of 1960 and 1964 Olympic downhill bronze medalist Traudl Hecher. Her brother Stephan Goergl also is a racer.
Vonn planned to train for the downhill Saturday, then go for gold again a day later.
“I’m just going to try to get past today and look forward to the future,” she said.
Riesch finished fourth while defending champion Paerson missed a gate in the downhill.
Zettel was ahead when Vonn came down as the final skier in the slalom leg. The American started with a 1.48-second advantage but made two big errors on the upper section of the course. She appeared to split the gate in an effort to regain time.
“She was just a little bit out of position and the pitch quickly shot her out,” U.S women’s head coach Jim Tracy said. “She was just confused.”
Zettel saw Vonn struggling and later recounted what she said to herself: “Oops, that could be good for me.”
It wasn’t immediately clear Vonn had split a gate, and the leader board initially flashed her time as second. Vonn posed for pictures as if she had won the silver medal.
“It’s mixed emotions and a pretty disappointing day all in all,” Vonn said. “I did all the photos for second place and was pretty happy even though I thought I could have won. Then I went inside and my husband told me I didn’t make the gate.”
Vonn’s coaching staff went into the race jury room to check the tape and decided not to appeal after confirming Vonn did indeed split.
“Today’s result was just one of those things that happen to all ski racers, especially in slalom,” Vonn’s husband, Thomas, a former U.S. ski racer, wrote in an e-mail to The Associated Press.
“Ski racing is a tough sport, you can win 59 out of 60 gates, straddle the last gate, and it is considered a terrible day. Lindsey knows that you have to be able to roll with the punches in this sport and is prepared to do that.”
Vonn opened the championships by winning the super-G Tuesday and was aiming for her fourth consecutive victory in a week, having also posted World Cup wins in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, last weekend. She will still be the favorite for Sunday’s downhill.
“I’m going to work hard and do everything I can to be on the podium in that race,” Vonn said.
Zettel finished fourth in the traditional combined at the 2006 Turin Olympics and was fifth in super-combi at the last worlds in Are, Sweden, two years ago. She has won five World Cup races, all in giant slalom.
Gut nearly matched Vonn in the downhill, finishing 0.14 behind, and attacked in the slalom leg, even though she has never entered a World Cup slalom.
Gut said her thoughts at the start turned to teammate Daniel Albrecht, who is in an induced coma following a crash in downhill training last month. Albrecht won the super-combi at the last worlds.
“I thought now I can do what he did in Are. I wanted to give everything,” Gut said. “I had nothing to lose. I thought I’ll give everything. If I drop out, never mind. And if I’m good it’s even better. I didn’t think much and just tried to let the skis go.”
This was the first medal at a worlds or Olympics for Goergl, who has won two World Cup giant slaloms. She is the daughter of 1960 and 1964 Olympic downhill bronze medalist Traudl Hecher. Her brother Stephan Goergl also is a racer.
Vonn planned to train for the downhill Saturday, then go for gold again a day later.
“I’m just going to try to get past today and look forward to the future,” she said.
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