GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany -- A career milestone and a rare family reunion. All of which left Lindsey Vonn in tears, and it made for a perfect day.
Vonn captured her 50th World Cup victory Saturday, winning the downhill on the demanding Kandahar course with temperatures plunging to minus 13.
"It's crazy. I am at a loss for words. I already cried with one of the TV crews and that is enough crying for the day," Vonn said. "Fifty World Cup wins is a huge mark for me in my career and more than I even thought possible. I just wanted the 50th win."
Few skiers reach the 50-win landmark. Among the women, only Annemarie Moser-Proell of Austria (62) and Vreni Schneider of Switzerland (55) are ahead of Vonn. Only three men have 50 or more: Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden (86), Hermann Maier of Austria (54) and Alberto Tomba of Italy (50).
Vonn's first win was in March 2006 in Norway.
Vonn won in 1 minute, 44.86 seconds. Nadja Kamer of Switzerland was 0.41 seconds behind and Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein finished third, 0.79 back.
Vonn was 0.62 seconds behind at the second split and nearly crashed midway down the icy and bumpy course before regaining her balance to win by nearly half a second.
"My sister's here, my dad is here. Things happen for a reason and I didn't win last weekend because I needed my family here to help me celebrate."
After separating from her husband and coach Thomas Vonn before the start of the season, Vonn has also started the process of repairing the relationship with her father, Alan Kildow, who introduced her to skiing and even moved the family from Minnesota to Colorado to hone her talent. They had a falling out a few years ago, the tension stemming in part from Vonn's relationship with Thomas.
* HUDEC WINS DOWNHILL, GUAY 3RD: At Chamonix, France, in a great day for Canadian skiing, Jan Hudec won a World Cup downhill for a surprising victory while teammate Erik Guay finished third in piercing cold over an icy slope.
Hudec, whose career has been blighted by knee injuries and operations, won for the first time in more than four years Saturday. With temperatures at minus 15 at the top of the course, he finished in 2 minutes, 3.25 seconds, followed by Austria's Romed Baumann in 2:03.78. Guay, the reigning world downhill champion, was 0.63 seconds behind the winner. The top U.S. skier was Bode Miller in eight place.
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