Picabo Street moved into elite company while proving Sunday that her domination of the women's World Cup downhill competition last season was no aberration.
The defending champion in that specialty and a winner of six races last winter, Street won the first downhill event of this season. The victory was her sixth in a row, beating the 1980-81 run of five by of Marie Therese Nadig of Switzerland.Only the 11-race winning streak of Annemarie Moeser-Proell in the 1972-73 and 73-74 seasons is longer
Still, Street was lucky to have the chance, considerably luckier than Russian Warwara Zelenskaja.
Zelenskaja had the fastest time of 29 racers Saturday before a sudden snow storm forced cancellation of the race. It would have been the first World Cup downhill victory by a Russian woman.
Street was 13th when the race was scrubbed, and put that poor showing to good use Sunday.
"I wanted to find that rage in me again," she said after flashing down the Olympic course to win easily, in 1 minute, 26.61 seconds. "I skied with my little tiger out that had been hiding inside of me somewhere.
"I had to find him and bring him to the surface. Today I skied aggressively. I attacked the course where I didn't attack yesterday."
Zelenskaja, who burst into tears Saturday after the downhill race she believed she had won was canceled, was third Sunday behind German Katja Seizinger.
"Today wasn't my day," Zelenskaja said with a sad smile. "It's hard to lose your first win, but I tried to carry my power inside me.
"If this had happened to me two years ago, I couldn't even race today. Today I'm happy because I'm here, I'm healthy and I'm looking forward to my next win."
So is Street, a 24-year-old skier from Portland, Ore., who realized she hadn't given her best 24 earlier.
"I came out of yesterday pretty bummed out," she said.
Seizinger, a former downhill champion, was timed in 1:27.04. Zelenskaja's time was was 1:27.30.
Seizinger made a mistake near the bottom which probably cost her the race, but accepted defeat gracefully.
"I'm happy with the second place," she said. "Looking at the intermediate times I see I am as strong as Picabo, perhaps even a little stronger. I'm back again."
There were two injuries during the race. Norway's Jeanette Lunde injured her left knee and will fly to Denver today for an examination.
American Shana Sweitzer fractured her lower right leg and was taken to hospital in Calgary.
A super-giant slalom race scheduled for Sunday was canceled.