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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, January 28, 2010

Skiing: Vonn has final World Cup business before Olympics


GRAHAM DUNBAR
AP Sports Writer

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — Lindsey Vonn says she's focused on taking care of World Cup business this weekend in her final stop before the Vancouver Olympics.

"I can't look too far ahead to the Olympics just yet," the two-time defending World Cup champion said Thursday.

Vonn will compete in three races at St. Moritz and leads the standings in all three — super-combined, downhill and super-G. She also leads the overall standings.

"You definitely have to stay in the moment," she said. "I have to get this weekend over with and hopefully do it well and move on to Vancouver."

Vonn doesn't want to give ground to rival Maria Riesch with 10 World Cup races left. The 33-race, five-month season ends March 14 in the German's home town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

The American leads Riesch by 56 points, with the winner of each race getting a 100 points.

"I have to be able to execute in all three races (this weekend) because it's really important for the overall," Vonn said. "Maria's super close to me all the time, so I have to be able to stay ahead of her."

The super-combi on Friday is a super-G run and slalom on snow Vonn described as "aggressive and perfect."

Vonn takes a perfect five-for-five record this season into the downhill on Saturday. She has a chance to match Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proell, who won all eight downhills in the 1972-73 season.

"I'm not focused on trying to win all the races in a row," Vonn said. "All I can hope for is good weather, that I ski my best and hopefully I can be on the podium."

Weather changes fast at St. Moritz, and strong wind made the slope too dangerous to race last season. The training run Thursday was abandoned after only two racers completed the course because of the strong wind.

"That was a smart decision," Vonn said. "It's been an interesting season with a lot of injuries, and I think everyone just wants to have a safe race."