International Capsules: Vonn misses gate and loses overall lead
ZAGREB, Croatia — With her arm in a brace and her hand aching, Lindsey Vonn missed a slalom gate and lost her overall lead in the World Cup standings.
Her mistake came at the 15th gate during the second run Sunday, and she did not finish a race won by Sandrine Aubert of France.
Vonn, the two-time defending overall champion, was skiing with a brace on her left arm and her pole taped to her hand after bruising a bone in a fall last Monday. This time, she was 1.71 seconds back after the opening run.
"In the first run, my hand hurt," she said. "In the second run, I went full risk and maybe tried too hard."
Last February, Vonn also skied with an arm brace and her hand taped to a pole. She had slashed her right thumb on a champagne bottle while celebrating her downhill victory at the world championships.
Vonn will try to regain the overall lead when the women’s World Cup circuit resumes next weekend with two downhills and a super-G in Haus im Ennstal, Austria.
"She’s still a little tentative with her arm, but it’s healing up nicely and she’ll get another good break before going into speed races in Austria next weekend," U.S. coach Trevor Wagner said. "It would have been nice for the overall if she’d scored a few points today. But she’s racking them up in speed races, so she’ll be fine."
Aubert’s victory was her second this season and fourth of her career. She had the fastest second run on the Crveni Spust course and had a total time of 2 minutes, 0.36 seconds.
Maria Riesch of Germany finished fourth to take the lead in the standings with 599 points. Vonn has 594 and Kathrin Zettel of Austria has 569.
Zettel finished second, 0.43 seconds behind Aubert after having the fastest first run.
"The podium was my goal," Zettel said. "Leading after the first run was a surprise to me. I’ve got to learn to cope with such a situation."
Riesch’s sister, Susanne, finished third, 0.74 behind Aubert. Aubert, who was fourth after the first leg, tops the slalom standings after also winning last month in Are, Sweden.
"I love to come back from behind and put pressure on the leaders," she said. "But in slalom, you always need some luck as well,"
Austria’s Marlies Schild, second going into the final run, fell shortly before the finish. She is returning this season after breaking a leg in October 2008.
"I am obviously disappointed not to finish," she said. "On the other hand, I couldn’t ski the whole past season and that was harder to take."
Canada’s Anna Goodman crashed at the next-to-last gate in her first run. She appeared to have injured her right knee.
American Spillane gets 1st Nordic combined victory
OBERHOF, Germany — Johnny Spillane of the United States earned his first Nordic combined World Cup victory on Sunday, beating Felix Gottwald of Austria by more than 30 seconds.
Spillane, the 2003 sprint world champion, finished second in the ski jumping portion and began the 10-kilometer cross-country race with a 2-second handicap, but won the event in 28 minutes, 13.3 seconds.
"It was good jumping and good racing. I know when I can put the two together I can do well," said Spillane, who had his first podium finish since 2007. "I just went for it today and fortunately it felt good and it worked out."
Spillane took the lead right after the start and at one point led the field by 47 seconds.
"I had a good jump, put myself in a good position, and just went for it right from the start of the race and didn’t worry about where other people were," he said. "I just tried to ski my own race."
Gottwald finished 30.8 seconds behind and Bjoern Kircheisen of Germany was third, 39.1 seconds back.
Bill Demong of Vermontville, N.Y., finished 13th, 1:33.1 behind Spillane.
Spillane, of Steamboat Springs, Colo., moved up to fourth from ninth in the overall World Cup standings.
"It’s been nice to just be consistent. That’s one of the big problems I’ve had over the last few years is I’d have really good weeks and really bad weeks," said Spillane, who was fourth in Saturday’s competition on the same course. Gottwald was second on both days.
"Johnny had an awesome race," said U.S. Nordic combined coach Dave Jarrett. "He just put his head down and skied. He dropped everyone."
Snowboarder remains in critical condition in Utah
SALT LAKE CITY — American snowboarder Kevin Pearce remains hospitalized in critical condition in Utah after sustaining a severe brain injury in a training accident.
His spokeswoman, Danielle Burch, said Sunday his condition hasn’t changed and later released a statement from Pearce’s parents.
"We have been overwhelmed with the outpouring of love and support from Kevin’s friends, family, and fans from every corner of the world. We thank each and every one of you for your kind thoughts, messages and prayers," Pia and Simon Pearce said in a statement. "We would like to extend our most heartfelt thanks to Kevin’s doctors and nurses for all they have done and all they continue to do. Kevin is the most extraordinary and determined son any two parents could hope for and it is wonderful to see how loved he is."
Pearce was injured Thursday in Park City as he prepared for next week’s Olympic qualifying events. Burch says Pearce was completing a twisting double back flip when he caught his toe-side edge and landed on his head. He was wearing a helmet.
The 22-year-old from Norwich, Vt., is a top-ranked halfpipe rider. He remains in the intensive care unit at the University of Utah Hospital.
An update Sunday on a Facebook page for Pearce said that as the days go by, "we are learning that patience, time and positive energy are imperative."
Demtschenko of Russia wins luge World Cup race
KOENIGSSEE, Germany — Albert Demtschenko of Russia broke the track record in both runs to win a luge World Cup event ahead of two-time Olympic champion Armin Zoeggeler of Italy on Sunday.
Demtschenko finished in 1 minute, 34.176 seconds for the two runs to win his second World Cup event of the season.
Zoeggeler was .373 seconds behind, with David Moeller of Germany trailing .464 in third on the oldest track in the world.
Tony Benshoof of White Bear Lake, Minn., was the top American, finishing 13th in 1:35.141. Chris Mazdzer of Saranac Lake, N.Y., was 21st and Bengt Walden of Lake Placid, N.Y., finished 30th.
The 38-year-old Demtschenko achieved his record performance despite being ranked 19th and 21st at the start of each heat. But his final times of 47.127 and 47.049 seconds, respectively, dusted the field.
Demtschenko also won the previous event, in Lillehammer, Norway.
Schlierenzauer wins 3rd leg of Four Hills
INNSBRUCK, Austria — Gregor Schlierenzauer has won the third leg of the Four Hills ski jumping tournament to take the lead in the overall World Cup standings.
The 19-year-old Schlierenzauer earned 251.1 points from the two jumps on his home hill to earn his 28th World Cup win. Simon Ammann of Switzerland was second with 237.8 points, Janne Ahonen of Finland third with 237.4.
Fellow Austrian Andreas Kofler finished fourth and retained the lead in the Four Hills standings with 772 points, 14 ahead of Schlierenzauer.
The Four Hills concludes in Bischofshofen, Austria, on Wednesday.
Schlierenzauer leads the overall World Cup standings with 611 points, two ahead of Ammann. Kofler is third with 476.
Hockey
U.S., Canada advance to world junior final
SASKATOON, Saskatchewan — RPI star Jerry D’Amigo scored two goals, the second short-handed, and the United States beat Sweden 5-2 on Sunday night to set up a title showdown against Canada in the world junior championship.
In the first semifinal, Taylor Hall scored twice, and Jake Allen made 20 saves in five-time defending champion Canada’s 6-1 victory over Switzerland.
The United States reached the championship game for the first time since beating Canada in the 2004 final in Finland. On Thursday night in the Group A finale, Canada rallied to beat the United States 5-4 in a shootout.
Tyler Johnson, John Carlson and A.J. Jenks also scored for the Americans, and Mike Lee made 27 saves. Anton Lander scored twice for Sweden.
Carlson broke a 2-2 tie with 7:26 left when his shot from the blue line bounced under goalie Jacob Markstrom. D’Amigo added a short-handed goal with 3:28 left.
Swedish captain Marcus Johansson received a major penalty and game misconduct for elbowing D’Amigo in the head early in the third, but Sweden managed to kill off the lengthy penalty before the U.S. pulled ahead on Carlson’s goal.
In the first semifinal, Marco Scandella scored short-handed, and Jordan Eberle, Brayden Schenn and Stefan Della Rovere added goals to help Canada reach the final for the ninth straight year.
"It’s very special," Hall said. "When you’re put in that position, you do everything you can to achieve it. This is the opportunity of a lifetime for us, just to get to the final. To win that sixth goal medal would be unbelievable."
Eberle had a power-play goal in the first period to tie John Tavares’ career Canadian goals record with 12. The Regina Pats star also matched Jason Allison for second place on the career Canadian points list with 24.
Mauro Jorg scored for Switzerland, a 3-2 overtime winner over Russia in the quarterfinals Saturday night.
"We played well, but our strength was down, our batteries were down after our game with the Russians," Swiss coach Jakob Kolliker said. "We wanted to keep it close for as long as possible. The short-handed goal hurt us too much to come back."
In relegation play, Tomas Knotek scored three goals in the Czech Republic’s 10-2 victory over Latvia.
Auto Racing
Qatari driver Al-Attiyah leads Dakar Rally
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Qatari driver Nasser Al-Attiyah has won the second stage of the Dakar Rally.
The victory Sunday gave him the overall lead ahead of Volkswagen teammate Carlos Sainz of Spain and France’s Stephane Peterhansel in a BMW.
In the motorbikes category, David Fretigne on a Yamaha was the stage winner, but David Casteau’s second-place finish was enough to give him the overall lead. Marc Coma finished third in the stage from Cordoba to La Rijoa in north central Argentina.
Monday’s third stage goes from La Rijoa to Fiambala as the rally approaches the Chilean border. The rally ends Jan. 16 in Buenos Aires.
