HAUS IM ENNSTAL, Austria - Lindsey Vonn became the only racer in American history to win World Cup races three days straight on Sunday in Austria.

Vonn, her left arm still in a brace, put together a super G run that was more than a half a second faster than anyone else's, winning with a time of 1 minute, 26.69 seconds. Anja Paerson landed her second podium of the weekend, in second place, .53 seconds behind Vonn while Italian Nadia Fanchini and Swiss racer Martina Schild tied for third, .85 seconds back.

Everyone else in the race was well over one second slower ... and the win was Vonn's 28th on the World Cup.

"I'm thrilled," Vonn said. "I wanted to win three in a row and I know a lot of people wanted me to do it. It felt really good. I was confident today after the downhll wins. I knew what I had to do. I had to go out there and ski aggressively. I was watching some of the earlier girls so I knew where they made mistakes."

Vonn was the 19th racer down the course on Sunday and watched the previous racers on a TV in the lodge at the top of the course. A few racers charged too much into their turns and skied off-course - Fabienne Suter and Tina Maze in the same place on the first big turn and Jessica Lindell-Vikarby at the top. Then Vonn watched her biggest rival (and best friend) Maria Riesch charging down her run, gaining speed at all the splits and leading into the bottom pitch. Then Riesch got too far back around one of the last gates, slid out and finished 24th. Vonn now has a huge lead in the World Cup overall standings, 894 points to Riesch's 702.

"I knew the bottom part of the course was the hardest, so I tried to keep it together down there and knew it would be OK," Vonn said. "Thankfully I skied that last right-footed turn well. Some of the other girls like Maria had problems there. I heard others had problems on the top. It was just a matter of execution. It's all I could have hoped for today."

Riesch knew exactly where her mistake was too, but unfortunately for her, by then it was too late.

"I had good speed in the last pitch, but i was too far back," she said. "I was skiing really fast. There were some bumps and I was too passive in that turn and my ski didn't turn around."

Riesch won her first World Cup in Haus im Ennstal in 2004, the last time the tour stopped here. It was the downhill, and she won the super G the same weekend. Although Riesch took third in the first downhill on Friday and seventh on Saturday, she had high hopes going into the races here.

"I'm a little bit sad that I didn't make more out of this weekend but I still had fun and I'm looking foward to coming back," she said, adding that she will be gunning to gain some points back in the World Cup's next stop down the road in Flachau, Austria, on Tuesday for a night slalom.

"I've never raced there but I heard it's not really steep or really flat - in the middle - so it should be good for me," Riesch said of the Flachau course. "I'll try to get a few more points in slalom than I got here."

Julia Mancuso had another solid race Sunday. Her 10th place was her best SG result since the 2007-08 season while Chelsea Marshall (starting No. 41) tied her best career SG result on the World Cup in 21st. Canadian Britt Janyk tied for 16th on Sunday and her teammate Shona Rubens squeezed into the points in 30th.

"I felt like it was a pretty solid run. I could have been cleaner in spots," Marshall said, adding that super G in itself poses challenges. "You only have one try. You don't have training runs. Your inspection has to be right on ... just know where you're going and trust it. I tried to keep things really simple and focus on what makes me ski well."

The sad news of the weekend was regarding Austrian Maria Holaus and Swiss racer Dominique Gisin. Holaus, excited to race at home and one of the local favorites, broke her right ankle warming up for Friday's downhill and is out for at least six weeks. Also Gisin, whose career has been plagued by knee injuries, crashed in the first downhill at Haus. Her meniscus was torn and the Swiss Team was holding out for more news following an operation on Sunday, necessary for an accurate assessment of ligaments in her knee that had so much prior trauma.

As for the pressure she was facing with a third straight win, Vonn said every time she prevails over outside pressure she feels more prepared for the Olympic Games (coming up in just over a month now).

"Today ... anytime I'm in a high-pressure situation and I'm able to come through it, it gives me confidence," she said. "It builds confidence to know I've done it before. It builds experience. That's what's going to help me going into Vancouver ... to know that I've done it before and to trust myself and my ability."

Going from three unlucky tech races prior to her sweep in Haus, including the giant slalom crash that put her in an arm brace with a deep bone bruise, Vonn said the lesson she's taking with her after these victories is that she can rise to the top again - and quickly - any time that she falls.

"The most important lesson is to not count myself out," she said. "Even if things aren't going well you can always turn it around. I just have to stay positive and trust myself ... that's what I'm going to try to do for the next couple of weeks and also for Vancouver."

- by Shauna Farnell

Photos by GEPA

The SCOOP
By Hank McKee

Equipment
Women's super G, Haus im Ennstal, Austria, Jan. 10, 2010
Skier, skis/boots/bindings
1 Vonn, Head/Head/Head
2 Paerson, Head/Head/Head
3 Fanchini, Dynastar/Lange/Look
3 Schild, Volkl/Lange/Marker
5 Fischbacher, Atomic/Atomic/Atomic
6 Dettling, Stoeckli/Lange/Tyrolia
7 Kamer, Voelkl/Tecnica/Marker
8 Fenninger, Head/Head/Head
9 Styger, Volkl/Lange/Marker
10 Mancuso, Rossignol/Lange/Rossignol

Women's super G, Haus in Ennstal, Austria, Jan. 10, 2010. … It is the 17th race of the women's 32 race 2010 World Cup schedule. … The third of seven scheduled super G's. … It is the 20th Cup race held at Haus which first hosted in 1981. … It is the fifth Cup SG at the site and first since 2004 when Carole Montillet of France and Maria Riesch of Germany tied for the win.

It is the 28th career World Cup win for Lindsey Vonn. … Her sixth of the season and third in three days. … She is the second racer this season to win on three consecutive days, Carlo Janka won Dec. 4-5-6 at Beaver Creek (cmb, dh, sg). … Katja Seizinger did it twice in 1996 at Val d'Isere Feb 2-3-4 (sg, dh, sg) and in 1997 at Lake Louise Dec. 4-5-6 (dh,dh,sg). … Annemarie Proell actually won four Cup races in three days at Grindelwald Jan. 9-10-11, 1975 (gs,cmb,dh,gs - "paper combined"). … the win moves Vonn past Phil Mahre on the all time (both genders) World Cup victory list into 17th place behind Stephen Eberharter. … It is the 204th U.S. World Cup win. … Vonn is alone in second behind Bode Miller's 31 wins. … She has won 16 races since his last victory. … It is her seventh Cup SG win, extending her U.S. record. … No other U.S. racer has claimed a win this season.

It is the 87th career World cup podium for Anja Paerson. … Her second of the season, both of them from Haus having been second in the first downhill Dec. 8. … It is her eighth career SG podium. … She owns all of Sweden's podium finishes this season.

It is the ninth career World Cup podium for Nadia Fanchini. … Her first of the season. … The 13th of the season for Italy.

It is the 71st career World Cup top 10 for Julia Mancuso. … Her second of the season having also finished 10th at Lake Louise in DH Dec. 4. … It is the 43rd time Britt Janyk has been in the top 16 of a World Cup race. … The 18th time in SG. … It is her fifth scoring result of the season. … It is the 12th career scoring result for Chelsea Marshall. … Her fourth of the season and her second at Haus. …  It is the eighth career scoring result for Shona Rubens and second of the season.

Vonn bumps her lead of the World Cup overall standings to 894-702 over Maria Riesch (24th in race). … Kathrin Zettel (did not race) holds third at 569. … Emily Brydon (36th in race) in the top Canadian overall in 11th with 231. … Vonn also holds the lead of the super G standings 240-145 over Nadia Styger (9th in race) with Elisabeth Goergl (19th in race) is third with 136. … Janyk leads the Canadians in 15th with 51pts. … Austria leads the women's Nations Cup 1989-1788 over Germany. … France is third at 1448 and the U.S. fifth at 1422. … Canada is eighth with 630pts.

Official results: