ALPINE:

Maze wins race, Vonn secures super-combi crystal in tight battle

March 4, 2011     ♦ Photo: Lindsey Vonn (Red Bull Photofiles)

TARVISIO, Italy — Lindsey Vonn celebrated with equal parts of joy and relief after successfully defending her World Cup super-combined title on Friday.

Finishing second to Tina Maze of Slovenia in the season's third and final super-combined was enough for Vonn to clinch the small crystal globe given to the overall champion.

Upon crossing the finish, Vonn dropped back into the snow and danced her skis in the air.

Vonn has been tested on multiple fronts this season. She still trails German rival Maria Riesch by 176 points in the overall standings, she missed the second half of last month's World Championships due to recurring symptoms from a mild concussion, and she has struggled with her slalom all season.

"It's been a tough season for me in slalom and I was trying really hard today," Vonn said. "Every title means a lot to me. ... I knew I had to risk everything if I wanted to win the title. I just tried to go straight at the gates and I was really happy with my run."

Vonn finished with 220 points in the super-combi standings, Maze's win lifted her to second at 212, and Riesch, the leader coming into the race, dropped to third at 205.

"I got some good points today," Riesch said. "It wasn't enough for the globe, which is a little bit sad, but I didn't have a great slalom run and Lindsey deserved it today."

Maze, fifth after the downhill leg, produced a blistering slalom to post a winning combined time of 2 minutes, 13.54 seconds. Vonn was 0.18 behind and Riesch 0.55 back in third.

Maze was a popular winner, with the Slovenia border only about a 10-minute drive away.

"I've been saying that Tarvisio was like my home race this season since Maribor was canceled," said Maze, who took silver in super-combi at worlds. "A lot of fans came across the border today, and even my dog Mik came to watch me for the first time — and he brought me gold."

It was the 10th World Cup title of Vonn's career, following three overall crowns, three downhill titles, two in super-G and last season's super-combi victory.

Vonn also has a chance to clinch this season's downhill and super-G titles in races on Saturday and Sunday.

Canada’s Marie-Michèle Gagnon finished 17th. After the downhill portion of Friday's event, Gagnon, of Lac-Etchemin, Que., was 36th. The 22-year-old athlete clocked the 10th-fastest slalom run in very difficult snow conditions to jump up 20 spots in the final rankings, as she finished with a two-run combined time of 2:17.13.

Because of the heavy snow fall that occurred two days ago, the downhill run got faster as the girls went down. Unfortunately for Gagnon, she was the seventh athlete out of the start gate for the first run.

"It was a little hard to have a great run from where I started this morning," said Gagnon. "I didn't have the luck of the draw. Because of the snow conditions on the track, the girls that started later had a cleaner and faster track than the first girls.

"I did have a really good downhill run and I was pretty satisfied with what I did. I definitely thought I would be in the top 30 but I didn't have that chance."

The snow conditions for the slalom run deteriorated quickly. That was apparent after the first couple of racers down the course found it was getting bumpier.

"For my slalom run, I was starting after all the fastest girls and I was pretty far back, so I knew I didn't have the advantage of a clean and fresh course," added Gagnon. "I know where I stand in slalom and I know what I can do, so I just tried to go down as fast as possible. There wasn't much more to do," added Gagnon.

Gagnon, who started doing speed events this season, competed in all three super-combined races and finished in 15th place overall with 48 points. Her best result in a super-combined event was 12th in Val d'Isere, France, in December.

"The coaches were really happy with my downhill race and I wasn't too far from the fast girls that had a similar start bib," added Gagnon. "Every day I do downhill I improve and I keep working hard and getting better in that discipline, so I'm pretty satisfied with what I accomplished this season."

"She needs more experience and it is very difficult for her to do both speed and technical events," said  head coach Hugues Ansermoz. "It's a lot of volume and it takes too much of her energy. If she keeps training as much in speed events, it will be in detriment to her technical racing, and that is not what we want.

"She has the potential to be one of the best in slalom and giant slalom, and that is what's important right now."

Whistler's Britt Janyk took part in the downhill portion of the race to train ahead of Saturday's downhill race.

"Britt had a great run," said Ansermoz. "She had a good bib start and the course was fast. It was a great confidence boost for Britt for Saturday. It's a big race for her and she knows that she needs to ski well in order to qualify for the finals in Switzerland in two weeks."

The women will race the downhill event on Saturday in Tarvisio and it will be shown live on CBCSports.ca starting at 4:55 a.m. ET. The race will be broadcasted on CBC's main network Saturday starting at 2 p.m. ET.

The men will be racing a giant slalom in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, on Saturday. The first run will be shown live on CBCSports.ca as well, starting at 3:25 a.m. ET and the second run is at 6:45 a.m. ET. The giant slalom race will be shown on CBC's main network Saturday starting at 4:30 p.m. ET.

— The Canadian Press and Alpine Canada contributed to this report

Tarvisio women's World Cup super-combined results