Story highlights
Lindsey Vonn wins back-to-back races in Germany
American reaches 81 World Cup wins
Stands five adrift of all-time record
Lindsey Vonn says she’s going to South Korea in “full charge” mode after scoring back-to-back wins in the final World Cup downhill races ahead of the Winter Olympics.
The 33-year clinched her 80th and 81st victories in Garmisch-Partenkirchen to close to within five of the all-time World Cup win record of Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden.
Vonn won Saturday’s shortened downhill and then stormed to another impressive victory in Sunday’s full length race ahead of World Cup leader Sofia Goggia of Italy with Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein in third.
The American won Olympic downhill gold and super-G bronze in Vancouver in 2010 but missed the last Games four years ago because of a knee injury.
“I have so much confidence right now in my skiing, mentally, and my equipment,” Vonn told reporters in Germany.
“Everything is coming together better than I could have hoped or planned for. And now I go into Korea with a couple of wins under my belt, and I’m just really looking forward to skiing the same way or even better than I skied this weekend – full charge. No holding back.
“I’m going to lay it all out on the table and see what happens.”
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Vonn is already the most successful women’s ski racer of all time.
Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proll is next on the women’s list with 62 wins scored between 1969 and 1980. American slalom specialist Mikaela Shiffrin, who goes to South Korea bidding to win back-to-back Olympic titles, is sixth with 41 World Cup victories – all before her 23 birthday.
With only one more World Cup downhill race this season – at the finals week in the town of Are, Sweden, in March – she will likely contest one final season to try to catch Stenmark.
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The Winter Olympics begins in PyeongChang on February 9.