A pair of American stars crashed out of downhill ski races on
Saturday.
Bode Miller crashed near the finish line and Carlo Janka of
Switzerland won the prestigious World Cup downhill race on the
Lauberhorn course in Wengen, Switzerland.
Lindsey Vonn tumbled three gates before the finish in
Maribor, Slovenia, but was unhurt. Kathrin Zettel of Austria won
the World Cup giant slalom event.
Vonn was second after the opening run. Vonn, a favorite in
the upcoming Vancouver Olymics, kept her lead in the overall
standings.
"I have been fighting really hard. I had a mistake early on,"
Vonn said. "The light wasn't too good anymore. I gave everything,
but it didn't work out in the end. It's a shame as it was that
close to the finish."
Zettel finished in a two-run combined time of 2 minutes,
36.22 seconds for her first victory of the season and seventh
overall.
Miller was poised to take the lead from early pacesetter
Buechel before he lost control. The American, who was unhurt, said
he hit a bump approaching a right-hand turn in the closing S-bend
and his right hip hit the snow before he slid off course.
"I couldn't see great and went a little bit too direct,"
Miller said. "I just missed the timing of it."
Janka finished in 2:32.23 over the classic 2.77-mile track,
the longest on the World Cup circuit. Janka was 0.66 seconds faster
than Manuel Osborne-Paradis of Canada, and Marco Buechel of
Liechtenstein was third.
Janka's fourth victory of the season gave him the lead in the
overall World Cup standings.
"Winning in Wengen is the dream of any Swiss skier," said
Janka, who competing in the Lauberhorn race for only the second
time.
He has 757 points, 68 more than Austrian technical specialist
Benjamin Raich, who skipped the race.
Osborne-Paradis said he did not expect his podium finish
after poor training runs in the week.
"I was having a lot of doubts this week," he said. "I have no
idea how I was fast today. I took more risks."
The 80th Lauberhorn race weekend ends with a two-run slalom
race Sunday.
