All these years later, those nightly after-school training sessions at Buck Hill in Minnesota still pay off for Lindsey Vonn.

Attacking an artificially lit course where no other competitor dared Saturday, Vonn won a World Cup giant slalom in Are, Sweden, for her fourth consecutive victory.

While she specializes in the speed events of downhill and super-G, Vonn has won four giant slaloms in her career, with two of them coming in Are.

There’s something about the Swedish resort located near the Arctic Circle – with the mountain hovering over a lake – that reminds Vonn of Minnesota.

“I just like it. … It’s like the same landscape,” said Vonn, who moved to Vail, Colorado, as an adolescent. “When I was a kid I always trained under the lights after school. So I really like racing under the lights. It’s really fun.”

Charging down a shortened course due to strong winds in the opening run, Vonn held on to her lead in the second run amid snowfall and clocked a two-run combined time of 2 minutes, 4.70 seconds.

Eva-Maria Brem of Austria finished second, 0.07 seconds behind, and discipline leader Federica Brignone of Italy was third, 0.35 back.

Vonn swept three speed races in Lake Louise, Alberta, last weekend.

“I feel really good on my skis and balanced. I have a lot of confidence, especially after Lake Louise,” she said. “I said last week if I finish Lake Louise strong that means good things for the rest of the season.”

It was the 71st World Cup win of Vonn’s career. She broke the previous women’s record of 62 wins set by Austrian great Annemarie Moser-Proell last season and now is taking aim at Ingemark Stenmark’s overall mark of 86 victories.

“I’m just trying to win. Every time I’m in the start I try to ski as fast as I can. I have nothing to lose and I think that makes me a dangerous competitor, because I’m not afraid of falling or losing,” Vonn said.

While Vonn continues to break records, her tactics have also led to numerous crashes.

“Yeah, but that’s how I roll,” she said. “I’m always going to push myself to the limit in every race that I enter.”

OLYMPIC SLALOM champion Mikaela Shiffrin is going home to the United States for medical care after injuring her right knee while warming up for the World Cup giant slalom.

“I am flying home tomorrow for a complete evaluation. I have at least MCL (medial collateral ligament) injury and bone bruising, hopefully no additional injury. Full diagnosis and recovery predictions after I’ll see a doctor at home,” Shiffrin wrote on Facebook.