LAKE LOUISE, Canada, Dec. 7 (Xinhua) -- Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch captured her second World Cup downhill victory in as many days Saturday with a dominant run at the famed Canadian ski mountain, more than a half second ahead of her nearest competition.
With sunny conditions and the temperature hovering around -26 degrees Celsius, Hoelf-Riesch, winner of gold medals in the slalom and the combined at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics Games, flew down the Lake Louise course in 1:55.09 for her 26th career World Cup victory. Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather (1:55.43) took the silver, while Austrian Anna Fenninger (1:55.56) was third.
"The slope was faster today, but my run wasn't as clean as yesterday," said the 29-year-old Bavarian. "I lost a little bit of time in the middle section, but my performance today was still good enough for the win so I am really satisfied."
Other results saw Switzerland's Maria Kaufmann-Abderhalden (1:55.92) and Italy's Elena Fanchini (1:55.93), the silver and bronze medal winners on Friday, finish fourth and fifth, while Slovenia's Tina Maze (1:56.00), the overall World Cup winner in 2013, was sixth.
American star Lindsey Vonn skied noticeably more aggressively in her second race since returning from knee surgery. After placing 40th Friday, the downhill gold medal winner at the 2010 Winter Olympics, finished 11th on a course where she has posted 14 World Cup victories.
The holder of 59 career World Cup victories plans to delay further surgery needed on her right knee so she can compete in the upcoming Sochi Olympics.
"Yesterday I just didn't trust myself, and today I knew what to expect and really pushed it so much harder. It's still not my best yet, but to have a top 10 (sic) in my second race back, I mean it's pretty awesome. I'm pretty excited," Vonn told CBC television.
"I knew that the speeds were up today, so I told myself just have a solid game plan, stick to it, be more aggressive, and I did that."
Hoefl-Rieschwill look to make it a treble Sunday as the Lake Louis World Cup concludes with the Super G, a race Vonn has won the past two years. With her two wins in Alberta, the German now leads the World Cup standings ahead of Switzerland's Lara Gut.
"I am not as strong in Super G than I am in downhill," she said. "The two victories will obviously give me a lot of confidence going into tomorrow's Super G race. I hope my coaches will find the best line and that I will be able to achieve it during the race."
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