Vonn snaps up Cortina super-G

Favourite Lindsey Vonn raced home in the super-G race at Cortina d'Ampezzo to pocket her 29th World Cup win.

Vonn, 25 and streaking towards a third consecutive overall World Cup title, won in 1min 21.74sec to see off Swiss Fabienne Suter and Swede Anja Paerson by 0.67 and 0.74sec respectively and make it seven wins this season.

The double speed events champion, who will be out to flatten the competition at next month's Winter Games in Vancouver, moved back to the head of the overall World Cup standings ahead of Maria Riesch, whom she left trailing.

The German could only manage 14th, fully 1.60sec behind her rival.

Vonn's tally for the season now stands at four downhill wins, two super-G successes and a super-combined triumph. Two weeks ago, she joined a select band of racers who have won three races in a weekend in bagging two downhills and a super-G at Haus im Ennstal, Austria.

"Today was my first super-G win here in Cortina so it's a special day for me," said Vonn.

"I feel good, things are going well right now - but a lot can change in a couple of weeks.

"Hopefully I can deal with the pressure in Vancouver and hopefully get at least one medal," said the American, who in this form seems set to reach that modest goal with something to spare.

She added she would look to improve her slalom, a relative weak point.

"But right now my main goal is just to stay focused on the downhill and the super-G. Speed keeps me happy," she chuckled.

With Vancouver fast approaching - the Games start on February 12 - Vonn is now starting to fine-tune her mental visualisation of the form she will have to be in to finish top of the heap.

"I feel I know what to do right now. I feel like I'm able to generate power from turn to turn," she said.

"(But) there's definitely pressure on me in the Olympics. Maybe even more so. The bottom line is I have to be able to ski well. I have to fight my way down in the Olympics. Nothing is ever guaranteed in life. You have to work hard if you wanna succeed."

Vonn has been almost unstoppable since her late-December fall in a giant slalom at Lienz, Austria, which left her with a badly bruised left arm.

And rivals such as Suter are aware they have to keep on improving as the American continues to raise the bar.

"Lindsay is at a really high level right now," said the Swiss.

"But she can make mistakes and we can profit from those."

Paerson said she felt she was trying almost too hard to keep pace.

"I have all the elements in hand - but perhaps I am trying to do too much. Today I was angry with myself as I knew I had made some mistakes and couldn't win. I was confident and expecting a lot of myself, hence my frustration. But I am happy with third despite everything."