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Saturday, Jan 19, 2013 1:46 PM UTC

Vonn wins WC downhill for 1st victory in 5 weeks

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Vonn wins WC downhill for 1st victory in 5 weeksTina Maze, of Slovenia, celebrates at the finish area after placing second an Alpine Ski World Cup women's downhill, in Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy, Saturday, Jan.19, 2013. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)(Credit: AP)

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn showed she’s back in form Saturday, winning a World Cup downhill for her first victory in more than five weeks. Saturday in a World Cup downhill, beating overall leader Tina Maze by nearly half a second.

The four-time overall champion defeated overall leader Tina Maze by nearly a half-second.

Vonn, who recently took 27 days off to regain her strength from an intestinal illness, clocked 1 minute, 38.25 seconds down the sun-drenched Olympia delle Tofane course.

Maze finished second, 0.43 seconds behind, and Vonn’s American teammate Leanne Smith was third, 0.89 back.

“It was a great feeling today, to come down and see No. 1 next to my name again was incredible,” Vonn said. “It’s been a hard couple of weeks trying to get my strength back and trying to get my confidence back.”

In her first races back last weekend in St. Anton, Austria, Vonn finished sixth and fourth in a downhill and super-G, respectively.

This time, there was no stopping her.

Wearing a rainbow-colored race suit, Vonn made a slight error midway down and nearly touched her right hip to the snow. But she had the strength to regain her balance and keep charging.

“I finally feel like myself again,” Vonn said. “I feel healthy, finally, and I’m able to ski the way I want to. It’s good to be back on top.”

The race was held in perfect conditions, with temperatures well below the freezing mark making for hard snow and clear skies allowing fans to marvel at the jagged snow-dusted peaks, which are some of the most spectacular in the Dolomite Range.

Vonn earned her seventh win in Cortina and the 58th of her career, moving within four of the all-time record held by Austrian legend Annemarie Moser-Proell.

“St. Anton was a good performance, but definitely not my best,” Vonn said. “Cortina is a place where I’ve had a lot of success, so I knew what I needed to do and I was finally able to put all of the pieces together.”

Vonn’s last win was a super-G was Dec. 8 in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

For Maze, it was her first podium of the season in downhill — having already registered wins in three other disciplines.

“I feel like I can be on the podium in every event,” the Slovenian said.

Maze extended her massive lead in the overall standings to 670 points ahead of Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, who lost control toward the end of her run and did not finish.

Vonn holds a 129-point lead over teammate Stacey Cook in the downhill standings, with Maze 151 points back in third.

Smith earned her second podium of her career after finishing second last month in a downhill in Val d’Isere, France.

“She put down a great run,” Vonn said. “It’s fun to be on the podium with your teammates. … Everyone is feeding off each other. We have a great energy about the team right now.”

With Alice McKennis having won in St. Anton last weekend and Cook finishing second to Vonn twice in Lake Louise, Alberta, at the start of the season, it’s the first time four different American women have reached the podium in downhill in a single campaign.

The other American finishers Saturday were Julia Mancuso in ninth, McKennis 11th, Cook 15th and Laurenne Ross 27th.

A super-G is scheduled in Cortina on Sunday, a race Vonn has won the last three years.

More By Andrew Dampf.

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