VAL D'ISERE, France - Swiss teenager Lara Gut led downhill training at the world championships on Wednesday, and race favourite Lindsey Vonn of the United States intentionally skipped several gates and was disqualified.

Gut clocked one minute 30.41 seconds down the Rhone-Alpes course. Nadia Fanchini of Italy was second, 0.30 seconds behind, and Andrea Fischbacher of Austria was third, 0.45 back.

Britt Janyk of Whistler, B.C., finished 10th in 1:32.10.

Fischbacher took the bronze medal in the super-G on Tuesday behind Vonn and Marie Marchand-Arvier of France. Marchand-Arvier placed fourth in training, followed by teammate Aurelie Revillet in fifth.

The 17-year-old Gut won a super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December. Her best downhill result was third in St. Moritz last February in her debut in the discipline.

Maria Riesch crashed during the session, injuring a ligament in her left knee and bruising her back.

She got up and skied down the rest of the course and bent over and cried upon reaching the finish area.

The German ski federation said no further injuries were found after a series of X-rays, and that Riesch would decide Thursday whether or not to train but she planned to race in Friday's super-combi.

Riesch finished eighth in the super-G that opened the championships Tuesday and sits second in the overall World Cup standings behind Vonn, who was disqualified along with defending downhill world champion Anja Paerson.

"I didn't take all the gates, but that's what first training runs are for, just checking it out," Vonn said.

The women have a second downhill training session Thursday, followed by the super-combi race Friday, a third training session Saturday and the downhill race Sunday.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Wed, February 4, 2009

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