Lindsey Vonn seals Olympic favourite status with fourth podium in four downhills

• 41-year-old American wins in Zauchensee, Austria

• Veteran skier leads downhill World Cup standings

Lindsey Vonn continued her age-defying comeback with a downhill victory on Saturday to take her career World Cup tally to 84 wins. The 41-year-old American’s second success and fourth podium from four downhills this season increased the veteran skier’s lead in the standings and cemented her favourite status for next month’s Winter Olympics.

Already the oldest World Cup winner of all time, Vonn was fastest by 0.37sec from Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie with a run of 1min 06.24sec on a cold and cloudy morning with snow falling in Zauchensee, Austria. Another American, Jacqueline Wiles, completed the podium, 0.48 slower than Vonn, on a piste considerably shortened after Friday’s training was cancelled due to heavy snowfall.