BEIJING (AP) 鈥� What better way to prepare for an Olympic downhill race than by watching Lindsey Vonn.
Swiss skier Corinne Suter checked out some old videos of the sport鈥檚 most successful downhiller before her run at the Beijing Games on Tuesday and then went out and won gold 鈥� making her the first woman since Vonn in 2010 to hold the Olympic and world championship titles in the sport鈥檚 fastest and most dangerous discipline at the same time.
鈥淪he鈥檚 my biggest idol,鈥� Suter said, adding that she watches old runs from Vonn 鈥渁ll the time.鈥�
When Suter raced in Val d鈥橧sere, France, she pulled up Vonn鈥檚 runs at the French resort. For this race, she viewed some of Vonn鈥檚 training runs.
鈥淚 just like how she skis with her body and how aggressive she鈥檚 doing the turns,鈥� Suter said of Vonn, the 2010 Olympic champion whose 43 World Cup downhills are the most ever by a man or woman. 鈥淚 just watch sometimes the turns.鈥�
Three years ago, Suter could examine Vonn up close when she took silver in the world championship downhill in Are, Sweden, while .
Like Vonn, Suter is powerfully built and she handled the high-speed turns on a course known as The Rock better than anyone else to by 0.16 seconds.
Goggia skied two spots before Suter and when she came down into the lead, it meant that three Italians were occupying the podium positions: Goggia, eventual bronze medalist Nadia Delago and Elena Curtoni, who eventually finished fifth.
Just before Suter鈥檚 run, the cameras flashed to Italian coach Michael 鈥淢uch鈥� Mair, who started crossing his arms as if to say, 鈥淪top the race now!鈥�
Suter was faster than Goggia through the first three checkpoints but trailed the Italian by 0.18 seconds at the final check before making time up through the flatter canyon section into the finishing jump.
And while the Italians still celebrated a big day 鈥� especially considering that Goggia injured her left knee and leg in a crash last month 鈥� it was the Swiss team celebrating the biggest honors again.
Following victories from in the men鈥檚 downhill, in super-G and in giant slalom, Switzerland became the first country with four different Alpine skiers to win individual gold medals at the same Olympics.
鈥淲e鈥檙e all athletes who have won a lot over the last seasons,鈥� said Gut-Behrami, who finished 16th. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it鈥檚 anything (surprising). ... The level is so high that there鈥檚 a battle just to qualify.鈥�
Joana Haehlen, another Swiss skier, finished sixth after leading the final training session a day earlier to secure one of the four starting spots on the team.
鈥淚 had no expectation at all, because I didn鈥檛 even know if I could race or not,鈥� Haehlen said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 crazy. It鈥檚 an honor to be in the team.鈥�
The downhill course at the Yanqing National Alpine Skiing Center was designed by 1972 Olympic downhill champion Bernhard Russi, who is from 鈥� where else? 鈥� Switzerland.
Has the impact of Russi, who works for the Switzerland-based International Ski Federation, played a role in the Swiss team鈥檚 success in China?
鈥淚 don鈥檛 think so,鈥� Haehlen said. But then she added: 鈥淚 think the Swiss are really good when it鈥檚 technical. For us on the speed side, I think that helped.鈥�
Suter injured both of her knees in a training crash in September, was on crutches for a month and didn鈥檛 fully regain her form until she won the final World Cup downhill before the Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
The last time Switzerland swept gold in the men鈥檚 and women鈥檚 downhills at the Olympics was 50 years ago when Marie-Theres Nadig took the women鈥檚 title to go with Russi鈥檚 victory. This time, there was also a Swiss sweep of the women鈥檚 speed events.
The Swiss women have also won three bronze medals in Beijing: Gut-Behrami in giant slalom, Wendy Holdener in slalom and Michelle Gisin in super-G.
鈥淓veryone is super fast,鈥� Suter said, 鈥渁nd we can push each other to the limit.鈥�
Almost as fast as Vonn.
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Andrew Dampf is at https://twitter.com/AndrewDampf
Andrew Dampf, The Associated Press
