Italy’s super-G world champion Christof Innerhofer won the men’s World Cup super-combined in Bansko, Bulgaria, yesterday.
The in-form Italian, who also took a silver and a bronze at the recent world championships, edged out Felix Neureuther of Germany and France’s Thomas Mermillod-Blondin.
Neureuther, who in contrast to Innerhofer had a terrible world championships on his home piste at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, missed out on victory by 0.01 seconds, but consoled himself with his first podium finish of the campaign.
Photo: EPA
For Mermillod-Blondin it was the first ever podium of his career and a bright spot in a nightmare season after he suffered a hand injury at the end of November and then failed to qualify for the world championships.
Croatia’s Ivica Kostelic, who has already wrapped up the World Cup title in the discipline, finished fifth, while the three skiers behind him in the standings — Swiss duo Didier Cuche and Silvan Zurbriggen, and Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal — did not compete.
WOMEN’S DOWNHILL
REUTERS, ARE, SWEDEN
Lindsey Vonn left her recent injury worries behind her to dominate a World Cup downhill in Are, Sweden, yesterday and snatch her seventh win of the season.
Hampered by concussion after crashing in a giant slalom training ahead of the world championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, the American was in splendid form to bag her 40th career victory and her 21st in a downhill.
The three time World Cup winner clocked 1 minute, 40.93 seconds ahead of giant slalom world champion Tina Maze of Slovenia, who finished 0.13 seconds adrift.
The margin was slim, but the task was not an easy one for Vonn as she started shortly after a break caused by a crash by Nadja Kamer of Switzerland as the visibility was going down on a tricky course that neither world champion Elisabeth Goergl or local favorite Anja Paerson were able to complete.
“I was looking for the perfect line to avoid mistakes today, knowing that the girls who wouldn’t make mistakes would win. It wasn’t easy because it was very dark,” Vonn said.
World Cup leader Maria Riesch was third.
Kamer was injured in a spectacular crash after tangling with a safety net and tumbling down the course, before being taken away on a stretcher. Swiss head coach Mauro Pini said Kamer was suffering from pain in her arms, but no fracture had been detected.
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