Vonn wins before hometown crowd; Mancuso 8th in super G

By USSA

BEAVER CREEK — Calling it the most memorable of her 46 career Audi FIS Alpine World Cup wins, Lindsey Vonn of Vail fulfilled the dream she had a child and won at home in the inaugural women’s race on Beaver Creek’s Birds of Prey. Despite a less than perfect run, Vonn took a 0.37 victory over Swiss Fabienne Suter to the roar of packed finish stadium.

Vonn became the first American to win four World Cup races in a row and tied German superstar Katja Seizinger for the most career World Cup super G wins with 16. Vonn has now won 14 of the last 19 super G’s, never finishing lower than third.

Julia Mancuso was eighth; Leanne Smith 11th.

Vonn spent 45 minutes signing autographs for the legions of young fans after the race.

“This morning I woke up and I was really anxious and nervous. My stomach has been in a knot all day. When I got to the start I was totally freaking out. I wanted to win in front of my home fans so badly; mentally I was a wreck,” Vonn said.