Vonn makes U.S. ski history

TARVISIO, Italy, Feb. 22 (UPI) -- Lindsey Vonn's super-G win in Italy Sunday was the 19th World Cup victory of her career and made her the winningest female ski racer in U.S. history.

Vonn, 24, a St. Paul, Minn., native who skis out of Vail, Colo., surpassed Tamara McKinney, who reached 18 World Cup wins in the 1980s. She ranks third all-time in U.S. World Cup wins behind Bode Miller with 31 and Phil Mahre with 27.

"It sounds really weird to me," said Vonn. "I don't see myself as a record-setter and actually never thought it was possible to pass a legend like Tamara.

"I'm extremely thrilled and hope that a lot of kids see what's possible in ski racing and become inspired. More than any title or record, I want to be a good example to young athletes. The same way Tamara and Picabo (Street) were for me."

Her time in Sunday's super-G was 1:21.7, 0.51 seconds better than second-place finisher Fabienne Suter of Switzerland. Tina Maze of Slovenia was third, Kathrin Zettel of Austria fourth and Nadia Fanchini of Italy fifth. It was Vonn's sixth win this season.

Vonn holds a 299-point lead over Maria Riesch of Germany in the overall standings with nine races remaining. No American woman has ever won back-to-back World Cup overall titles.

"My big goal for this weekend was to build my points total for the overall," said Vonn, who also leads the World Cup downhill standings.