Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch captured her second World Cup downhill in as many days as Lindsey Vonn continued her comeback from injury with an improved performance in Lake Louise on Saturday.
Germany's Maria Hoefl-Riesch skis during the Ladies downhill during the alpine skiing FIS World Cup in Lake Louise, Canada, on December 7, 2013
Two-time Olympic gold medallist Hoefl-Riesch clocked a time of one minute, 55.09 seconds to finish 0.34 seconds ahead of runner-up Tina Weirather, of Liechtenstein, and Austrian Anna Fenninger who placed third in 1:55.56.
This is just the second time Hoefl-Riesch has won two downhills in a row after 2010 and it marks her fifth career World Cup downhill in Lake Louise.
"The slope was faster today but my run wasn't as clean as yesterday," she said.
"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."
The 29-year-old Hoefl-Riesch won gold medals in the super combined and slalom at the 2010 Vancouver Games and won the World Cup overall title in 2011.
She battled through frigid conditions to win Friday's downhill, snapping Vonn's seven-race win streak at the Lake Louise.
Vonn skied more aggressively Saturday, crossing the finish line in 1:56.35 but she was still 1.26 seconds adrift of Hoefl-Riesch.
"Today's performance is a great step forward," said Vonn, who finished 11th Saturday.
"I could be much more aggressive on the course. I still made a couple of mistakes but I'm really happy with the run I put together today.
"It gives me confidence for sure to bring into tomorrow's race."
Vonn's 11th place finish was a big improvement over her 40th place showing Friday in her first race in 10 months after tearing ligaments in her right knee at the February World Championships in Austria.
Saturday's race was held under sunny skies, but similar frigid conditions. Temperatures hovered around -19 Celsius (-2 Fahrenheit) at race time Saturday on an icy course that saw several racers crash.
The race was delayed for several minutes after Nadja Jnglin-Kamer lost an edge and went down. The Swiss, who started from the 12th position, slid sideways down the steep section of the slope and slammed into the safety netting but she was not seriously hurt.
Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden, of Switzerland, finished fourth while Italy's Elena Fanchini rounded out the top five.
The 24-year-old Weirather initially finished fifth in Friday's downhill but was disqualified because of an equipment error. Officials penalized her for wearing a plastic forearm protector over the race suit which is against World Cup rules.
"After such a bad day yesterday, it feels really good to be on the podium", she said. "I had some anger in me and I took it into the course today and my skiing and that worked well. A third podium so far this season is great."
The women return to the Lake Louise slopes for a Super G on Sunday.