ZAUCHENSEE, Austria — Lindsey Vonn of the United States won a World Cup super-combined race Saturday after nearly crashing during a jump in the downhill leg.
“It was a tough day,” said Vonn, who won her third World Cup race of the season and 16th of her career. “I thought that I would be hurt, I thought it was over.”
The defending overall World Cup champion posted the third-fastest time in the slalom leg to finish in 2 minutes, 40.53 seconds overall.
Kathrin Zettel of Austria was second, 0.30 seconds back, and Anja Paerson of Sweden finished third.
Vonn, a Ski Club Vail product, nearly wiped out on the technically demanding Kaelberloch course after losing her balance. She veered backward, but broke her fall with her right arm and quickly recovered to finish fourth.
“That was scary,” Vonn said. “I wasn’t in the right position. I am just happy that I am not injured. My thumb hurts a bit, but it’s no problem.”
Overall World Cup leader Maria Riesch of Germany went out in the slalom after misjudging a turn early in her run. Riesch stayed atop the standings with 729 points, with Vonn second at 716.
American Julia Mancuso, who won the event two years ago, was out of contention during the downhill after a bump in the course threw her off line.
Larisa Yurkiw of Canada, who surprised the field by posting the fastest time in the downhill, missed a gate in the slalom.
Vonn was more than a second behind at the first intermediate time but rallied to decrease her deficit.
“I was able to get it together again and I had a really good bottom part,” she said. “I tried to get a solid, clean run, no mistakes. It was good enough for the win.”
Paerson, the super-combined world champion, had a smooth downhill run until she lost control before the steep final part of the course.
A downhill is scheduled for today.
Miller finishes second
WENGEN, Switzerland — Didier Defago of Switzerland won a World Cup downhill on the classic Lauberhorn course.
American Bode Miller, who had won the race the last two times, finished second, and Marco Sullivan of the U.S. was third.
Defago finished in 2:31.98 seconds on the 2.8-mile course, the ski circuit’s longest and most demanding. Miller was 0.20 seconds behind.
Miller, the defending overall World Cup champion, is winless in 19 races. He is still bothered by a left ankle injury sustained when he clipped a gate in the downhill last month at Beaver Creek.
“I have both physical and mental pain when I ski right now,” Miller said. “Over the course of a long time, that gets a little bit annoying.
“It’s only in the ski boot that it hurts. It’s a little bit frustrating on these downhills where there’s a lot of really hard left turns. I just don’t have the power to do what I want to do.”
The 31-year-old New Hampshire skier described his season’s results as “pretty poor, especially considering the way I’ve been skiing.”
Miller and Sullivan reached their goal of making the podium of a downhill together. Sullivan, a 28-year-old Californian said he had extra motivation to ski well in front of his family.
“My dad and sister to watch this race, and my dad has never been to Europe before,” Sullivan said. “It’s a special day.”
Benjamin Raich of Austria, who did not race, retained the lead in the overall standings ahead of Jean-Baptiste Grange of France, who also sat out. They will be among the favorites in today’s slalom.
