From the U.S. Ski Team:

Double World Champion Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) added a new line to the U.S. Ski Team record books Saturday, becoming only the second American in history to win back-to-back World Cup downhill titles. Vonn tied for 12th on the day, but mathematically clinched the title with an insurmountable 111-point margin over Swiss racer Dominique Gisin.

Austrian Andrea Fischbacher won the race as Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA) finished 10th. Chelsea Marshall (Pittsfield, VT), Stacey Cook (Mammoth, CA) and Keely Kelleher (Big Sky, MT) also finished in the points.

=> Read more!

Seattle's Colin Huffman is just one win away from earning a spot in the 2010 Olympics. Huffman is the fifth player on Tyler George's Minnesota-based team and Washington's final shot at putting a curler in the Olympics.

George's team beat John Shuster's Minnesota team 6-5 with a point in the final end to earn a place in Saturday's finals.

Washington might get a curler in the Olympics after all.

Seattle’s Colin Huffman was added to Tyler George’s Minnesota rink as their fifth player. A curling team has four players, so Huffman will be the reserve. Huffman played on Jason Larway’s accomplished Seattle team this season, but the team, which made the playoffs at nationals the last two seasons, just missed qualifying for the Olympic trials.

George’s team went 8-1 in pool play and is the top seed in the playoffs that start today.

The Olympic dreams of Washington’s top curling teams are officially dead after a disappointing morning at the U.S. Curling Trials in Broomfield, Colo.
Both Mark Johnson and Greg Romaniuk’s Seattle-based teams lost their matches Thursday morning that would have put them in a tiebreaker to make the playoffs.

Romaniuk took an early 4-2 lead against Tyler George’s Minnesota team but failed to scored in the final six ends and lost 8-4.

Johnson’s loss was even more heartbreaking. His team led by a point entering the 10th and final end but Todd Birr’s Minnesota team scored twice to steal a 7-6 win.

Johnson and Romaniuk finished pool play with 4-5 records.
George won pool play with an 8-1 record and is in the playoffs Friday and Saturday with Birr (6-3), John Shuster’s Minnesota team (6-3) and Craig Brown’s Wisconsin team (5-4).

The tournament winner earns a spot in the 2010 Olympics.

Cristin Clark’s Seattle team was eliminated from the women’s tournament Wednesday.

Cristin Clark's rink finished up at the U.S. Curling Trials tonight with a 9-2 loss to Patti Lank's team from New York.

Clark's team finished with a 2-7 record.

Greg Romaniuk rebounded from his morning loss to beat Kevin Deeren’s Chicago team 7-6 to stay in playoff contention at the U.S. Curling Trials.

Mark Johnson’s team blew a two-point lead in the tenth end on Wednesday night before falling 10-8 to Craig Brown’s Wisconsin Team in the extra end.

Both Seattle teams are 4-4 in pool play, with their final match tomorrow.

Cristin Clark's Seattle team lost 8-7 moments ago to Amy Wright's Minnesota Team at the U.S. Olympic Curling Trials in Broomfield, Colo.

Clark's team is 2-6 in pool play and was eliminated from playoff contention last night. The team plays its final match tonight.

Mark Johnson’s team won this morning solidifying his chances of making the playoffs at the U.S. Olympic Trials in Broomfield, Colo.

Johnson’s Seattle team beat Kevin Deeren’s Chicago team 8-5 and improved to 4-3 in pool play. With two games to play Johnson is in a four-way tie for second.

The Greg Romaniuk team didn’t have a good morning. Romaniuk became the first team at trials to get shutout, losing 7-0 in five ends to Craig Disher’s North Dakota team. Romaniuk is 3-4 in pool play.

Both teams play again at 3 p.m. Johnson plays defending national champ Craig Brown of Wisconsin and Romaniuk plays Team Deeren.

Cristin Clark’s curling team is all but eliminated for the chance to make the 2010 Olympics. Clark’s team just lost for the second time today – 10-3 to Aileen Sormunen’s Minnesota team – and is now 2-5 with two matches remaining in pool play.

Clark is now eliminated from the tournament playoffs.

Greg Romaniuk and Mark Johnson, skips of Seattle's two teams at U.S. Olympic trials, both won their matches today.

Romaniuk defeated Christopher Plys' Minnesota team 5-4.

Johnson defeated Mike Farbelow's Minnesota team 4-3.

Both teams are 3-3 and in position to make the playoff that will determine the U.S. representative in the 2010 Olympics.

From the Associated Press:

Kikkan Randall sprinted frenetically through the snowfall, stretching her ski across the finish line and breaking new ground for U.S. skiing.

Randall held off Finland's Pirjo Muranen in a photo finish Tuesday to take silver in the sprint at the Nordic skiing world championships, becoming the first American woman to win a world or Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.

Randall, of Anchorage, Alaska, had never had a top-10 finish in four previous worlds. She led for most of the 1.3-kilometer final but was overtaken by Italy's Arianna Follis in the last turn before the home straight. Follis finished in 2 minutes, 39.3 seconds, and Randall was 0.6 seconds back.

"Everything came together today," Randall said. "It was just kind of a magical day. A good one for me personally, but really a good one for our sport in the United States."

The silver was the first American cross-country medal since Bill Koch won bronze in the 30K at the 1982 worlds.

Also Tuesday, Ola Vigen Hattestad of Norway won the men's cross-country sprint, holding off teammate Johan Kjoelstad. Hattestad won in 3:00.8 seconds to beat Kjoelstad by 0.4 seconds. Nikolay Morilov of Russia took bronze.

These worlds have become a turning point for Nordic skiing in the U.S. Halfway into the championships, the Americans lead the medals table with three golds, a silver and bronze -- after never having won more than one medal at the same worlds. Traditional powerhouse Norway has six medals, but only two golds.

Todd Lodwick has two golds in Nordic combined, with teammate Bill Demong finishing third in Sunday's Gundersen event. Lodwick's first gold came in a mass start Friday, hours after Lindsey Van became the first women's ski jumping world champion.

"This is big-time for us," said John Farra, the Nordic director of the U.S. Ski Team. "To get a cross-country medal, I'm not sure people fully realize what that means."

Randall was determined to show the Americans can be a power in cross-country as well.

"We knew we had it in us too," she said. "I went to the awards ceremony that first night when our national anthem was played twice, and definitely felt like I wanted to take my shot at that."

Randall won both her quarterfinal and semifinal heat by taking an early lead and protecting it. She tried the same tactic in the final to avoid getting tangled up in someone else's ski or pole, but Follis proved too strong in the end.

After years of mediocre results, Randall had a breakthrough in 2007 when she won her first World Cup event in Rybinsk, Russia. But she nearly had to give up skiing last year when a blood clot developed in her leg toward the end of the season, forcing her to take blood-thinning medication for six months.

"Every time I get an ache or something in my leg, it gets me a little nervous and scared, but luckily things have come through really well," she said. "I just hope it stays that way. It's definitely been a fight to come back, but today makes it all worth it."

Randall will compete in Wednesday's team sprint and Thursday's relay. She's hoping to keep improving ahead of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

"Americans love it when Americans are winning," she said. "I hope that everybody back home is watching to see what's possible, and gets behind the team going to the Olympics next year."

Cristin Clark of Lynnwood and her Seattle-based curling let and two-point lead slip away and lost a pivotal match today at the U.S. Olympic Curling Trials.

Clark's team lost 11-8 to Erika Brown's Minnesota team.

Clark is now 2-4 in pool play and has almost no room for error in her final three matches. Clark is two games behind the pace to make the playoff that will determine the spot in the 2010 Olympics.

After losing three matches in a row, Mark Johnson’s team rebounded with a decisive 10-7 victory of Craig Disher’s North Dakota team tonight.

For the second night in a row Greg Romaniuk went to extra ends in his team’s night match. But this time Romaniuk prevailed with a 10-8 win over Mike Farbelow’s Minnesota team.

Johnson and Romaniuk are 2-3 in pool play.

Cristin Clark's team scored two points in the 10th end to complete a come-from-behind victory over Gillian Gervais' North Dakota team Monday night at the U.S. Curling Olympic Trials.

Clark's 7-6 win was her team's second today improving its record to 2-3 in pool play. They are one game out of position to make the playoff that will determine which team goes to the 2010 Olympics.

Local curling teams skipped by Greg Romaniuk and Mark Johnson lost again today at the Olympic Trials.

Romaniuk lost 8-5 to tournament leader Todd Birr of Minnesota. Johnson lost 5-4 to John Shuster's Minnesota team.

Romaniuk and Johnson are both 1-3 in pool play and play again tonight. The top four teams in the 10-team field make the playoff to determine the 2010 Olympic participant.

Cristin Clark got her first win of the Olympic Curling Trials this morning with an 8-7 win in extra ends against Charrissa Lin of Connecticut.

Clark is now 1-3 in pool play with another match this afternoon.

Greg Romaniuk overcame another 3-point deficit in his late match against Craig Brown of Wisconsin before losing 8-7 in extra ends.

Mark Johnson lost an early 2-1 lead in his team’s evening match and fell 8-6 to Tyler George’s team from Minnesota.

Romaniuk and Johnson are both 1-2 and two games behind 2007 national champ Todd Birr, the tournament’s only 3-0 team.

Cristin Clark of Lynnwood fell to 0-3 in the women’s tournament with losses Sunday to a pair of Minnesota teams.

Clark lost 10-3 to Debbie McCormick in the morning and 7-3 to Norma O’Leary in the afternoon.

All three local teams play twice Monday.

From the U.S. Ski Team:

It's official, Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) is the winningest female ski racer in American history. The 24-year-old double World Champion secured her 19th World Cup victory Sunday with a super G win in Tarvisio, surpassing U.S. great Tamara McKinney's previous high mark of 18 established in the 1980s.

It was Vonn's sixth World Cup win of the season and 43rd podium of her young career. She now stands an impressive third for all-time U.S. World Cup wins (male or female) behind Bode Miller (Franconia, NH) with 31 and Phil Mahre with 27.

"It sounds really weird to me," said Vonn, who captured gold in both downhill and super G at the recent FIS Alpine World Ski Championships. "I don't see myself as a record setter and actually never thought it was possible to pass a legend like Tamara.

=> Read more!

From the U.S. Ski Team

In an historic day for the USA, Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) took his second World Championship gold and teammate Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) took the bronze during the 2009 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Liberec. The USA is leading the medals count with three gold and a silver after eight of 20 events.

=> Read more!

Cristin Clark's Seattle rink fell to 0-3 at the Olympic curling trials in Broomfield, Colo., moments ago with a 7-3 loss to Norma O'Leary of Minnesota.

Clark returns to the sheet tomorrow to play two matches tomorrow.

Greg Romaniuk's team won a showdown between Seattle Granite Curling Club teams moments ago at the Olympic Trials in Broomfield, Colo.

Romaniuk's team overcame a 5-2 deficit to beat Mark Johnson's team 8-6 in the second match of pool play for both teams.

Romaniuk and Johnson are 1-1 in pool play.

Both rinks play again tonight at 6 p.m. Romaniuk plays Craig Brown of Wisconsin and Johnson plays Tyler George of Minnesota.

Cristin Clark's Seattle curling team fell to 0-2 in pool play this morning with a 10-3 loss to Debbie McCormick's Wisconsin team.

Clark plays again at against Norma O'Leary's Minnesota team at 2 p.m.

The Seattle curling team skippered by Mark Johnson came from behind twice Saturday night to win their first match of pool play at the U.S. Olympic Curling Trials in Broomfield, Colo.

Johnson, who was born in Walla Walla but lives in Edmonton, let his team to an 8-4 win over Christopher Plys’ Minnesota Team.

The two other teams based out of Seattle’ Granite Curling Club didn’t fair as well Saturday.

Greg Romaniuk’s rink lost 8-5 to John Shuster’s Minnesota Team. Cristin Clark of Lynnwood lost 11-6 to Cassie Potter’s team from Minnesota.

All three local teams play twice Sunday. The nine-game round-robin tournaments are followed by a two-day playoff. The winners will be determined Feb. 28 and become the first Americans to qualify for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

Cristin Clark of Lynnwood got off to a rough start today at the Olymic curling trails in Broomfield, Colo.

Clark’s team lost 11-6 to Cassie Potter’s team from Minnesota in the first of nine pool play matches. Clark’s team plays two matches Sunday.

Mark Johnson and Greg Romaniuk’s Seattle teams are both losing their first matches at the moment, but it’s still early in both matches.

Click here for live scoring.

From the U.S. Ski Team:

American Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) laid down two lengthy jumps and led the cross country to win the gold during a mass start at the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Liberec Friday. Lodwick's first career major event medal comes on the heels of teammate Johnny Spillane's (Steamboat Springs, CO) gold in 2003 and Billy Demong's (Vermontville, NY) silver in 2007.

"Words cannot describe it. The biggest thing about my comeback was World Championships. It still hasn't set in, but today I am the best in the world," Lodwick said.

Following Lodwick, Teammate Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) who was third in the cross country portion of the event, finished fifth overall.

=> Read more!

Walla Walla is best known for producing onions, a football star (Drew Bledsoe) and a superhero (Adam West, the original Batman).

In eight days it could also be known for producing America’s first 2010 Winter Olympian.

Mark Johnson, 50, was born in Walla Walla shortly before his parents moved to Edmonton to work in the oil industry.

Saturday, after years of trying to make a Canadian Olympic team, Johnson will skipper one of three Seattle teams at the U.S. Olympic qualifiers in Broomfield, Colo. Greg Romaniuk of Seattle is the skipper of the other men’s rink in the 10-team field. Seattle’s Cristin Clark has the only local team in the women’s tournament. The tournament concludes Feb. 28.

While Johnson has lived in Canada most of his live, he never abandoned his U.S. roots.

=> Read more!

From VANOC:

One of the biggest milestones in preparing to host the top athletes from countries around the world has been reached by the Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) and its partners: construction and upgrades on all sport competition venues were completed on time and within the $580-million budget. Athletes are now training and competing in the venues in preparation for the Games.

The Vancouver 2010 sport venue program is officially complete today with the opening of the Vancouver Olympic/Paralympic Centre, the venue for curling and wheelchair curling events during the Games.

“Today is a proud moment for all of us and would not have been possible without the unwavering support of the Government of Canada and the Province of BC,” said John Furlong, VANOC Chief Executive Officer. “After years of teamwork and careful planning, together we’ve reached one of our biggest milestones. It’s wonderful to see athletes now competing and testing these venues while youngsters and adults alike experience the legacies far in advance of the Games.”

=> Read more!

Olympic hopeful Laura Valaas of Wenatchee finished 57th at Nordic Worlds today. Here's an update from the U.S. Ski Team:

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) led the way for the U.S., finishing 26th as the 2009 Nordic Ski World Championships kicked off with a women's 10K classic Thursday in Liberec. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen of Finland won the event.

"This race wasn't a key race for any of our women and they did really well - as well as we hoped they would do," U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Pete Vordenberg said. "It was a really good start, especially for Kikkan. It's a great sign for her fitness for the races that are coming up, which are her key races."

According to Vordenberg, Morgan Arritola's (Ketchum, ID) 40th-place finish is an indicator of things to come for the young athlete.

=> Read more!

A press release from VANOC:

The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) today completed day three of its field of play testing at World Cup snowboard competition at Cypress Mountain. Despite successful snowboard cross and half-pipe competitions over the past two days, the local organizing committee together with the Federation Internationale de Ski (FIS) has cancelled tomorrow's (Sunday, February 15th) event -- the men’s and women’s Parallel Giant Slalom (PGS) -- due to unsuitable competition terrain resulting from a combination of factors including mild weather and limited time to prepare the course both in advance of the event and in between the last two events. Spectators with $10 tickets for tomorrow's event can return to the West Vancouver Aquatic Centre for a full refund.

=> Read more!

Doug Haney, spokesman for the U.S. Ski Team, offers his personal take on Lindsey Vonn's wild week at the World Championships:

(Click here to read the Associated Press account)

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) won her third World Championships gold medal today - this one for being the toughest competitor. She was going for the slalom win, crashed and slid on her back for a while. It didn't feel good, but she skied down and immediately hugged her best friend and No. 1 competitor Maria Riesch, who did win the gold - her first of the World Championships.

Funny thing is, she would have hugged whoever won, that's Lindsey. After going through the media mix zone, we walked together to the hotel. It took over a half hour because Lindsey took photos with fans and signed autographs all the way there. Amazing.

Now there's that (Resi) Stiegler (Jackson Hole, WY) kid. Not only did Resi finish 19th in her first race in over 13 months. She finished 19th at the World Championships slalom - her first race in 13 months.

But she didn't stop there - while interviewing with NBC Sports in the finish, she realized that French President Nicolas Sarkozy was in the crowd. Resi then jumped the media pen, climbed into the stands and convinced the Prez to sign her race bib. She even blew him a kiss!

From the U.S. Snowboard team:

Lindsey Jacobellis' (Stratton Mountain, VT) status as the most dominant woman in snowboardcross remained unfettered Friday as she won to retain her position as the World Cup SBX leader on the Olympic course at Cypress Mountain. Jacobellis was joined on the podium by fellow U.S. Snowboarder Seth Wescott (Sugarloaf, ME) who was third.

"It's one of the best courses I have ridden all year," Jacobellis said. "It flowed really nicely and it's nice that I did so well."

Jacobellis won each of her heats, but it was a tactical line that shot her ahead in the final round.

"It feels great and I'm happy to win any race. At the entrance of the first banked turn I was in third and then dropped in low for a pass and drifted up and I felt like I got some speed out of that turn, then I just tried to maintain the lead for the rest of the way down," Jacobellis said.

=> Read more!

From the U.S. Ski Team:

Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) made it to the finals in the women's race, finishing sixth in a freestyle sprint at Vadidentro, Friday. Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) sprinted to eighth, marking his and Randall's best finishes of the season.

"Like usual, it was a good and bad day," Cross Country Sprint Head Coach Chris Grover said.

Andy Newell was on target to have one of the fastest qualifying times of the day when he crashed on the final downhill, just 100 meters from the finish. Even though the course was one of the longest on the sprint World Cup, Newell lost crucial momentum and could not make up enough time, finishing 47th.

=> Read more!

From the U.S. Ski Team:

Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) blazed from ninth place to take the bronze at the 2009 FIS Alpine Ski World Championships giant slalom Friday. He was edged by Swiss skier Carlo Janka, who won, and Austria's Benjamin Raich took silver.

"I was pretty upset after the first run. I knew I had to step it up and I skied with a fair amount of risk. I was pretty happy to be cleaner than first run," Ligety said.

Ligety said he struggled in the first run as conditions on the hill varied from icy sections to grippy snow throughout the course.

=> Read more!

From the Associated Press:

VAL D'ISERE, France -- Bode Miller is unlikely to take another shot at the Olympics.

The American skier said in an interview with UniversalSports.com Wednesday that he's leaning toward retiring at the end of this season, but hasn't completely ruled out the 2010 Vancouver Games.

Miller is the defending overall World Cup champion and currently competing at the world championships in Val D'Isere.

"I've said it for five years and I haven't retired yet but in this particular case ... it's probably likely," Miller said in the interview. "It's just something that comes along for every athlete. ... I'm not decided one way or another. I just think it's unlikely that I would go. It could happen."

Miller did not win a medal at the 2006 Turin Games, and has not won a medal at a major championship since winning the super-G and downhill at the 2005 world championships in Italy.

=> Read more!

Ok, as promised in tomorrow's paper, here's video of Crystal Mountain's Scott Macartney in what has become one of the most famous ski accidents ever. Don't watch it if you have a weak stomach. Macartney is lucky to be alive.

Now that we've gotten that out of the way, if you ever share a lift with Macartney at Crystal Mountain pick a different topic to talk about. He's getting pretty sick of talking about the accident.

I talked with him this morning about his most recent injury, a torn ACL in his left knee that needed a cadaver graft to be repaired.

He says he’s giving the knee some time to heal and then he hopes to be back in top form by November when qualifying races for the 2010 Olympics begin.

As for last year’s crash, Macartney recovered physically and mentally from the horrific accident. However, the European media hasn’t let him forget about it.

While he graciously answers the questions, some reporters have bothered him. Before an interview with an Austrian TV crew, they told him they had a present for him at the end of the interview.

“The present was still shots of the accident,” Macartney said. The crew wanted to shoot video of him looking at the pictures.

“I was very frank with them. I told them if I knew they were going to do that I would not have agreed to the interview.”

For downhill racers, it is important not to focus on the danger of the sport, Macartney said. Having to field constant questions about the crash has made that difficult for the 31-year-old.

“Most of the questions are OK,” Macartney said. “But some of the questions just make you shake your head.”

He knows the questions will persist, especially know that he’s dealing with another injury. But he’d rather deal with the annoyance and the rehab than walk away.

“Retirement never crossed my mind,” Macartney said. “I still have a lot I want to do. I want to show the hard work I’m putting in. If I retired now I would wonder about what could have been.”

CYPRESS MOUNTAIN, B.C. – Two hours before the finals of Saturday’s moguls World Cup race, Bryon Wilson was threatening to hurt Patrick Deneen.

Not because Deneen is the man he thinks he needs to catch to make the 2010 Olympic team, but because earlier that morning Deneen filled Wilson’s ski boots with orange peels.

If Deneen survives whatever revenge Wilson has in mind, there’s seemingly not much else that can derail his promising career.

The 21-year-old Cle Elum resident is a rising star on the U.S. Freestyle Ski Team and has his sights locked on the 2010 Olympics.

He was rookie of the year on the world tour last season, and while he hasn’t skied quite as well this season, according to his coach, he finished fourth in Saturday’s World Cup on the course that will be used in next year’s Olympics.

“He certainly has a tremendous upside,” freestyle coach Jeff Wintersteen said. “He is a great talent.”

Patrick’s dad, Pat, was the first to see his son’s talent.

When Pat was the general manager at Hyak, now Summit East on Snoqualmie Pass, his son started skiing at 11 months of age.

“He had more opportunities to ski than most kids,” said the elder Deneen, who also worked at Silver Mountain in Idaho.

When Deneen started racing, he won almost every junior race he entered. While he was always fast, he said he was best at the technical events like slalom.

But it wasn’t long before Deneen fell in love with skiing bumps.

And as with ski racing, Deneen proved to be a natural in freestyle, too.

“The guy is always on the snow,” Wilson said. “He works really hard.”

=> Read more!

From Tom Kelly of the U.S. Ski Team:

Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) made history winning her second World Championships gold Monday at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Val d'Isere. Vonn talked to journalists about her day and the accomplishment.

Your goal was to get one gold medal, now you have two.
It's incredible. I was just looking for one gold medal and got that in the super G. I was looking for a medal in the super combined and it didn't work out so it made me hungrier

Just like the super G, I raced with my heart. I raced well. I had good tactics, especially on the bottom where girls were losing time.

I'm so happy. It's been an incredible World Championships for me. I hope things continue to go well.

Is it hard for you to be in the same company as great heroes like Andrea Mead Lawrence, Gretchen Fraser and others?
It's really weird. I just feel honored to be with those great ski legends. I don't picture myself among such great skiers. I'm still just trying to ski my best everyday. I feel like I'm breaking a lot of records, but I'm just out doing my job and I love what I'm doing. I'll just keep working hard to do as well as I can.

The downhill is really your event, isn't it?
Downhill is my favorite event, it always has been since I met Picabo Street. She always inspired me. For some reason I've always been drawn to the speed, the adrenaline, the rush of it all. It's an amazing discipline. I've always wanted to win at a big event and I feel like it's a big breakthrough for me. I was able to do it despite being nervous. My husband and I really worked through it. I'm going to take what I learned today to the Olympics and hopefully I'll be able to do well there.

=> Read more!

From the U.S. Ski Team:

Double World Champion Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) is expected to compete again this week in the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Val d'Isere after having surgery on her right thumb Tuesday at Privatklinik Hochrum near Innsbruck, Austria.

According to U.S. Ski Team Medical Director Richard Quincy, Vonn had surgery to repair a tendon in her right thumb. The surgery was performed by Dr. Christian Fink of Privatklinik Hochrum. The U.S. Ski Team's Dr. Jeff Harrison accompanied Vonn. She will remain overnight in Austria and return to Val d'Isere Wednesday.

"The surgery went fine and we're appreciative of the care she had from Dr. Fink and Privatklinik Hochrum," said Quincy. "She will have a splint and should be able to grip her ski pole. We anticipate she will be ready to compete in Saturday's slalom and possibly the giant slalom Thursday."

"Everything went really well and I couldn't be more thankful for the care that I've received," said Vonn, who has captured gold medals in super G and downhill in Val d'Isere. "The support from my fans has been awesome. I'm looking forward to returning to Worlds and challenging for another medal."

Vonn injured the thumb Monday evening opening a bottle of champagne at a victory celebration. She was treated by Dr. Harrison at the Team hotel. She flew to Innsbruck Tuesday for a detailed examination and the followup surgery.

From the U.S. Ski Team:

After collecting gold in the 2009 FIS World Championship super G last week, Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) stormed to another win in Monday's downhill at Val d'Isere and was crowned the official queen of speed. Vonn clocked a 1:30.31 on the steep and technical course, while Swiss youngster Lara Gut was second, .52 seconds behind. It was the first U.S. women's downhill title since Hilary Lindh won in 1997.

Here are the official statements from VANOC about the test events this weekend. Not surprisingly it's declaring them all a success.

- Whistler Bobsled and Skeleton World Cup
- Cypress Freestyle Skiing World Cup
- Four Continents Figure Skating Championship

Olympic champ Ted Ligety, who is expanding his racing repertoire this season, has a nasty crash earlier this week at the World Championships.

Here's the video:

Patrick Deneen of Cle Elum just missed a medal Saturday night in the moguls at the Freestyle World Cup at Cypress Mountain.

Deneen took the lead on his run, but was bumped off the podium when the second to last skier, Alexandre Bolideau of Canada, laid down the winning run.

“Fourth is pretty good,” said Deneen, who is now eighth in the world moguls standings. “But I could have done better. It will be different next year.”

American Hannah Kearney finished second in the women's race behind Canadian Jennifer Heil, the defending Olympic champ.

WHISTLER – If quick starts truly are the key to bobsledding success, then Bremerton’s Bree Schaaf could be a force to be reckoned with at the 2010 Olympics.

The 29-year-old has only been piloting bobsleds since late 2007, but even she can’t believe how quickly her career his starting.

Schaaf drives USA 3, so expectations weren’t exactly high going into the season. She’s changing that.

She beat the top two U.S. bobsleds to win the national championship last month, and Friday afternoon she made a noisy World Cup debut.

Racing on the track that will host the 2010 Winter Olympics, Schaaf and teammate Emily Azevedo finished sixth, .66 seconds behind winners Shauna Rohbock and Elana Meyers, also of the U.S. Kallie Humphries piloted Canada 2 to second place and USA 2, driven by Erin Pac, was third.

“It's amazing, just unbelievable,” Schaaf said. “I am so excited. Really, I am so excited, which is all I can say because it's all that I feel. This gives me something to work towards next year."

=> Read more!

The women’s skeleton just wrapped up here at Whistler. The verdict: Look out for Germany in 2010.

Germans Shelley Rudman, Anja Huber and Marion Trott swept the race. Katie Uhlaender was the top American. She finished fourth.

Melisa Hollingsworth of Canada looked as if she would win the event after winning the first heat. But pour turn dropped her ninth place.

Michelle Kelly of Canada was upset with her run.

“The good news is we have the home field advantage,” Kelly said. “We have a whole year to train on this track before the Olympics and nobody else has that.”

Noelle Pikus-Pace of Utah finished eighth.

“It’s different than any track I’ve been on,” Pikus-Pace said. “But I like it. The ice is like glass. It’s a good course.”

Here are the teams that will compete in this month's Olympic qualifiers for curling in Denver:

MEN:
* Chris Plys rink: Chris Plys (Duluth, Minn.), Aanders Brorson (Duluth, Minn.), Matt Perushek (Eveleth, Minn.), Matt Hamilton (McFarland, Wis.), Phill Drobnick (Duluth, Minn.)
* Tyler George rink: Tyler George (Duluth, Minn.), Kris Perkovich (Chisholm, Minn.), Mark Haluptzok (Bemidji, Minn.), Kevin Johnson (Winebago, Minn.)
* Kevin Deeren rink: Kevin Deeren (Chicago), Kraig Deeren (Waunakee, Wis.), Joey Bonfoey (Lac du Flambeau, Wis.), Richard Maskel (Green Bay, Wis.)
* Mike Farbelow rink: Mike Farbelow (Minneapolis), Nick Myers (St. Paul, Minn.), Tim Solin (Mahtomedi, Minn.), Tim Gartner (Eagan, Minn.)
* Todd Birr rink: Todd Birr (Mankato, Minn.), Paul Pustovar (Hibbing, Minn.), Greg Wilson (Vernon Hills, Ill.), Kevin Birr (St. Peter, Minn.)
* Mark Johnson rink: Mark Johnson (Edmonton, Alberta), Wes Johnson (Seattle), Brady Clark (Lynnwood, Wash.), Ken Trask (Seattle), Derrick McLean (Bothell, Wash.)
* John Shuster rink: John Shuster (Duluth, Minn.), Jason Smith (Cape Coral, Fla.), Jeff Isaacson (Gilbert, Minn.), John Benton (St. Michael, Minn.), Ryan Lemke (Medford, Wis.)
* Craig Disher rink: Craig Disher (Rolla, N.D.), Kevin Kakela (Rolla, N.D.), Zach Jacobson (Langdon, N.D.), Carey Kakela (St. John, N.D.), Kurt Disher (Rolla, N.D.)
* Craig Brown rink: Craig Brown (Madison, Wis.), Rich Ruohonen (Brooklyn Park, Minn.), John Dunlop (Milwaukee, Wis.), Pete Annis (Owatonna, Minn.)
* Greg Romaniuk rink: Greg Romaniuk (Snohomish,Wash.), Doug Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Leon Romaniuk (Kirkland, Wash.), Troy Schroeder (Plymouth, Minn.)

WOMEN:
* Gillian Gervais rink: Gillian Gervais (Bismarck, N.D.), Sarah Lehman (Bemidji, Minn.), Stephanie Jensen (Bismarck, N.D.), Sarah Felchle (Bismarck, N.D.)
* Cassie Potter rink: Cassie Potter (Minneapolis), Jamie Haskell (White Bear Lake, Minn.), Laura Roessler (Trempealeau, Wis.), Jackie Lemke (Medford, Wis.)
* Debbie McCormick rink: Debbie McCormick (Rio, Wis.), Allison Pottinger (Eden Prairie, Minn.), Nicole Joraanstad (Madison, Wis.), Natalie Nicholson (Bemidji, Minn.), Tracy Sachtjen (Lodi, Wis.)
* Erika Brown rink: Erika Brown (Oakville, Ontario), Nina Spatola (McFarland, Wis.), Nina Reiniger (New York City), Laura Hallisey (Medfield, Mass.)
* Patti Lank rink: Patti Lank (Lewiston, N.Y.), Caitlin Maroldo (Rochester, N.Y.), Ann Swisshelm (Chicago), Chrissy Haase (Schenectady, N.Y.)
* Charrissa Lin: Charrissa Lin (New Haven, Conn.), Tanya Jacobsen (Silver Spring, Md.), Karen Walker (Enfield, Conn.), Nicole Vassar (Framingham, Mass.)
* Cristin Clark rink: Cristin Clark, Sharon Vukich, Emily Good, Katy Sharpe (all of the Seattle area), Gabrielle Coleman (Mountain View, Calif.)
* Margie Smith rink: Margie Smith (Shoreview, Minn.), Norma O'Leary (Silver Bay, Minn.), Becky Johansen (Two Harbors, Minn.), Theresa Hoffoss (Minneapolis)
* Amy Wright rink: Amy Wright (Duluth, Minn.), Courtney George (Duluth, Minn.), Jordan Moulton (Highland Park, Ill.), Patti Luke (Duluth, Minn.)
* Aileen Sormunen rink: Aileen Sormunen (Duluth, Minn.), Molly Bonner (Virginia, Minn.), Jessica Schultz (Minneapolis), Maureen Brunt (Minneapolis), Sophie Brorson (Duluth, Minn.)