Lindsey Vonn, of the United States, in action during the slalom portion of the women's Ski World Cup Super Combined in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
. world ski news : Vonn grabs first win of 2009 as Riesch falters - 17 January 2009 - 19:45
ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria (Reuters) - American Lindsey Vonn bagged her third victory of the season in a super-combined on Saturday, closing in on World Cup overall leader Maria Riesch after the German failed to finish.
Lindsey Vonn, of the United States, in action during the slalom portion of the women's Ski World Cup Super Combined in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Already the winner of a slalom in November in the Finnish resort of Levi and a downhill in Lake Louise in December, Vonn clocked a combined time of two minutes 40.53 seconds to record her first victory of 2009.
Riesch had looked well placed after finishing just ahead of Vonn in the morning's downhill but the German, winner of the last four slaloms, made a rare mistake early in the afternoon run and slid out of contention.
Maria Riesch, of Germany, speeds down the slope on her way to clock the third fastest time during the women's Ski World Cup Super Combined downhill portion in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Vonn is now only 13 points behind Riesch in the World Cup overall standings and she will be the favorite in Sunday's downhill in the Austrian resort.
"It's an important win because it comes after a long run of missed opportunities," Vonn told reporters. "At last I made it to the finish.
"My joy is of course tarnished by the fact that Maria crashed but this puts me back in the saddle for the World Cup standings, even though it's too early to talk about it."
She added: "Now I must stay focused, because I had a bad crash on this course a couple of years back and it's been six weeks since our last downhill. It's a very long time."
Austria's Kathrin Zettel was second, while third place went to Sweden's Anja Paerson.
Unheralded Canadian Larisa Yurkiw upset the favourites by being fastest in the morning's downhill section, but she lost more than nine seconds in the slalom and finished outside the top 30.
Larisa Yurkiw speeds down the slope on her way to clock the fastest time during the women's Ski World Cup Super Combined downhill portion in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)
Winner of the previous super-combined in St Moritz, Paerson blamed herself for a lack of aggression.
Anja Paerson, of Sweden, in action during the slalom portion of the women's Ski World Cup Super Combined in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Armando Trovati)
"I'm not bad enough these days," she told reporters. "I'm too passive. I hope to be more aggressive in the downhill tomorrow as I badly need wins."
By Patrick Lang
Sat Jan 17, 2009 10:20am EST
Lindsey Vonn, of the United States, smiles after winning the women's Ski World Cup Super Combined in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2009. (AP Photo/Giovanni Auletta)