Vonn invincible at Lake Louise

It’s official now: You are more likely to see a pig fly than see Lindsey Vonn beaten at Lake Louise.
She won the downhill there Saturday for the fourth year in a row, this time by nearly eight-tenths of a second in the zero-degree cold.“I trusted myself, knowing the line and not thinking twice about it,” she said.Vonn didn’t have the fastest speed — she clocked 123 kilometers an hour, while Anja Paerson hit 125 kph — but Vonn was almost flawless. She trailed downhill nemesis Renate Goetschl of Austria at the first timing checkpoint, but tore down the 2.8-kilometer course from there, in the first World Cup downhill of the season.
“I know that hill like the back of my hand and I just trusted myself,” Vonn said.
Vonn’s first World Cup win came in 2004, when she won the Lake Louise downhill and was third in a super-G. A year later to the day, she won the second of two downhills at there, and in 2006 she shredded the field by 1.33 seconds at the race.
Saturday marked victory No. 4 in the Canadian Rockies.
“I wish we could have more races up here, or at least the two downhills we’ve had the last few years. Or, yeah, three ... or four,” Vonn joked.
Vonn’s time Saturday (1:48.69) bested Goetschl, of Austria,who finished in 1:49.47. Following Vonn from the U.S. Ski Team were Julia Mancuso in 13th place and reigning NorAm overall and super-G champion Leanne Smith in 23rd place. Chelsea Marshall
of Pittsfield, who made her World Cup debut in the Lake Louise downhill a year ago, was 34th, missing the top 30 and her first World Cup points by 0.13 seconds.
“I’m super-psyched for Leanne,” Vonn said. “She’s got so much spunk and it’s great to have her on the team. She’s skiing so well, and so is Chelsea.”
After winning two silver medals at the 2007 FIS Alpine World Ski Championships last year, Vonn had to end her season early. She injured her right knee in slalom training
at the championships and, although she was in the running for the overall title, Vonn elected to skip the rest of the season to rest her knee.
After surgery and lots of hard work in rehab, she said, “I’m back stronger than ever. I’m really confident.”
The women head to the Audi Aspen Winternational in Colorado for more World Cup racing this weekend.