(CNN) -- While the trials and tribulations of Lindsey Vonn have dominated skiing headlines this season, one of her rivals has been quietly carving out her own place in the history books.
Tina Maze is already far ahead in the race to usurp Vonn as overall World Cup champion, and on Sunday she joined the American as one of only six female skiers to win a race in each of the alpine sport's five disciplines.
The Slovenian won the first Super G event held in the Austrian resort of St. Anton in 14 years to move 550 points clear of closest rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch.
"I'm not really concerned about making history when I get prepared for a race, but it is always a nice thing to hear once it's done," the 29-year-old told the FIS World Cup website after her sixth win this season.
"I've worked hard to win my first Super G, I got very close to winning last season. I could not have made it if there wasn't such a good team of people around me. The summer preparation was conducted in the best way possible and it's been paying off so far."
Read: Vonn upstaged in World Cup comeback
Two new freestyle skiing events will be introduced at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi -- slopestyle and ski halfpipe -- meaning freestylers will have as many medals to aim at as their alpine cousins.
Winter Olympics embraces skiing's ''dark arts'
Dominik Paris, right, and Hannes Reichelt shared victory after finishing in a dead heat in the World Cup downhill at Bormio, Italy.
'Crazy' dead heat in World Cup ski race
Aksel Lund Svindal, right, secured his first Olympic gold medal in the men's super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Games, while American star Bode Miller claimed silver.
Svindal sets the Alpine speed standard
Vonn and on: Lindsey's quest
It was Maze's 17th World Cup win overall, still a long way off Vonn's leading 57.
"It's amazing to see Tina do so well. She's been on a roll -- top three in every event. She's clearly running away with the overall. It's cool to watch. I think it's great for the sport and I'm really happy for her," Vonn said.
The four-time World Cup champion won the first two Super G races this season, but then took a month off due to stomach problems.
Vonn returned to action in Saturday's downhill at St. Anton, finishing equal sixth -- and improved by two places to retain a 20-point lead over Maze in the Super G standings.
"I think that it was a good weekend to reconstruct my season," said Vonn, whose divorce from husband Thomas Vonn after a year of separation came through last week.
"I rediscovered my confidence. I am really eager to get to Cortina. I think that next weekend will see me in better form."
Maze headed off Austria's Anna Fenninger, while Switzerland's Fabienne Suter was third in her best result since returning from a serious knee injury.
Meanwhile, Marcel Hirscher extended his overall lead in the men's World Cup with victory in the slalom at Adelboden to repeat his 2012 victory at the Swiss resort.
The Austrian was beaten by Ted Ligety on Saturday when the American took advantage of his rival's mistake to win the giant slalom, but this time Hirscher recovered from eighth place in the opening run to beat compatriot Mario Matt and third-placed Italian Manfred Moelgg.
Hirscher is now 126 points ahead of second-placed Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, with Ligety 179 adrift in third.
Loading weather data ...
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Ski cross is a four-way fight to the finish line across a specially constructed course complete with jumps, waves and steep turns. It enraptured audiences on its Olympics debut in Vancouver in 2010.
Part of its appeal is its fast and furious nature, which often leads to crashes.
Rather than television, most amateur freestyle skiers find their fame on the internet. Finnish urban skiing company Real Skifi comprises Ilkka and Verneri Hannula and Juho Kilkki. Their short films, shot by Janne Korpela, often attract half a million hits.
As well as ski halfpipe, ski slopestyle and snowboard slopestyle, other new events for Sochi 2014 include snowboard parallel special slalom, women's ski jumping, biathlon mixed relay, team figure skating and luge team relay.
Paris, 23, delighted the home fans as he claimed the first World Cup win of his career.
Austria's Reichelt also clocked 1:58.62 as the 32-year-old claimed his fifth career victory -- his first this season.
Aksel Lund Svindal extended his lead in both the downhill and overall standings as he finished third -- just 0.01 seconds behind leading duo.
The Norwegian was just 0.01 seconds ahead of fourth-placed Austrian Klaus Kroll, who won the downhill title last season.
Slovakia's Veronika Velez Zuzulova claimed her first World Cup win with victory in the women's slalom at Semmering in Austria, where Slovenia's Tina Maze extended her overall lead with third place.
Svindal celebrates his silver medal in the men's downhill in Vancouver. He also won bronze in the giant slalom to complete a full set of medals in one Games.
Svindal powers his way to victory in the men's World Cup super-G race at Val Gardena as he continued his dominant start to the 2012-13 season with his third win.
Skiing is a treacherous sport, demonstrated by this fall Vonn had at the 2006 Winter Olympic Games in Turin. She was airlifted to hospital but returned two days later to compete and finished eighth. Her grit earned her the U.S. Olympic Spirit Award.
Vonn married fellow U.S. skier Thomas Vonn in 2007. Vonn also became her coach. The pair split in November 2011.
Lake Louise is Vonn's playground. She has dominated there in recent years, winning all three downhill events in December 2012, like she did the year before. Her request to race against the men there this year was rejected.
Vonn took time out of her preparations for an Alpine World Cup event in Val d'Isere to catch up with CNN's Alpine Edge show.
|