By Steve Keating
BEAVER CREEK, Colorado (Reuters) - Austria's Anna Fenninger continued to dominate the women's competition at the alpine ski world championships by posting the fastest time in final downhill training on Thursday.
Fenninger, who won the championship-opening Super-G on the same Raptor layout on Tuesday, rocketed down the sun-kissed piste in one minute, 47.48 seconds to set herself up as a hot favorite for Friday's blue riband event.
Slovenian Tina Maze, second to Fenninger in the Super-G and Olympic downhill champion, was .03 back of the Austrian while Swiss speedster Lara Gut, winner of the only World Cup downhill staged at Beaver Creek, was third fastest.
American ski queen Lindsey Vonn, bronze medal winner in the Super-G, was well back with the 19th-best effort after crossing more than two seconds behind of Fenninger.
Vonn, a world and Olympic downhill champion, arrived in Vail having claimed the mantle of the most successful women's skier of all-time with 64 World Cup wins and will carry the burden of sky-high expectations into Friday's race where she will have the support of a raucous home crowd.