American ski queen Lindsey Vonn admitted she was delighted to have claimed her 50th World Cup career victory here in Saturday's downhill race. The Olympic champion recovered from a slow start and was the fastest down the course in a time of 1min 44.86sec with Switzerland's Nadja Kamer second at 0.41sec and Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather claiming third at 0.79sec. Kamer, who was third down the course, was the early pace-setter, but the 27-year-old Vonn produced an impressive race to better the Swiss' time to claim her half century of World Cup race victories. Victory also extended Vonn's runaway lead at the top of the World Cup standings to give her a total of 1,350 points, 482 points more than second-placed Tina Maze of Slovenia. It was Vonn's 25th downhill victory to put her second behind Austrian star Annemarie Moser-Proell's record of 36, who claimed 62 World Cup wins during the 1970s before she retired in 1980. The American made a slow start down the Kandahar piste and at one point was 0.62sec behind Kamer's time, a slight slip looking to have cost her even more. But the downhill champion saved her best for last with a sensational display on the bottom half of the course to take the perfect line and glide into first place. "It's crazy, I am at a loss for words," beamed Vonn. "I already cried with one of the TV crews and that's enough crying for the day. "50 World Cup wins is a huge mark for me in my career and more than I even thought possible. "I am just so happy, every win is special, but 50 is a huge mark. "(Retired Italian slalom expert) Alberto Tomba has 50 ski wins and he is one of the best skiers of all time, I don't see myself in that way, but to see what I have accomplished so much to this point is amazing." Vonn said she was pleased to have recovered after her slip. "That wasn't part of the plan, I hit a bump and lost the inside edge of my ski and went onto my hip," she said. "From that point until the finish I skied well and was able to make up some time." Having failed to defend her world downhill title on the same course last year, when she finished second behind Austria's Elisabeth Goergl, Vonn said it was special to hit the half century mark in Garmisch. "I just wanted to get my 50th win, I have raced in a lot of places and always something good or bad happens no matter what you do," she said. "Last year wasn't the best time here in Garmisch, but I turned everything around this year and it's awesome to get the 50th win here.". Liechtenstein's Weirather skied herself into contention with an impressive display and was just off Vonn's time throughout her run. Last season's overall World Cup winner Maria Hoefl-Riesch, skiing down her home course, bettered Vonn's time at the start of the course, but the German ended up in fourth place 0.99sec behind Vonn. The race was run in unusually cold conditions with minus 25 degree celsius recorded at the start and -22 at the finish.