Lindsey Vonn, of the United States, slaloms past a pole during an alpine ski, women's World Cup super-combined, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012. Lindsey Vonn was denied a three-win weekend sweep by just 0.03 seconds as Maria Hoefl-Riesch won a super-combined event Sunday. Hoefl-Riesch won for the first time in 11 months to kick-start her defense of the World Cup overall title she took from Vonn last season. (AP Photo/Armando Trovati)

Winter sports: Lindsey Vonn narrowly misses weekend World Cup skiing sweep

Winter sports »Snowboarder scores 100 in final run after clinching gold.

The Associated Press

First Published Jan 29 2012 05:14 pm • Last Updated Apr 05 2012 11:39 pm

St. Moritz, Switzerland • Lindsey Vonn was denied a three-win weekend sweep by just 0.03 seconds as Maria Hoefl-Riesch won a super-combined event Sunday.

Hoefl-Riesch won for the first time in 11 months to kick-start her defense of the World Cup overall title she took from Vonn last season.

Vonn, a part-time Park City resident, was last to race in the slalom leg after being fastest in the morning super-G run, and threw back her head in frustration on seeing how close she was to winning for a third straight day. She smiled as her German friend approached in the finish area and hugged her in congratulation.

"It would have been nice to have a hat trick," Vonn acknowledged. "I’m really happy for Maria — but I’d rather she beat me by a second."

Still, Vonn earned 80 points and extended her lead to 387 over Tina Maze of Slovenia, who placed fifth Sunday.

Hoefl-Riesch, who is third overall, trailed Vonn by 0.23 after the super-G but just edged the American on a flat slalom course slowed by warm sunshine.

The German racer had a combined two-run time of 2 minutes, 8.41 seconds. Nicole Hosp of Austria was third, 0.51 back, after finishing 28th fastest in super-G.

Men’s super-G • Thick fog forced organizers to cancel a men’s super-G World Cup race in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on Sunday. There was no immediate decision on rescheduling.

Figure skating • Jeremy Abbott won his third title at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships on Sunday in San Jose, Calif., finishing with a total score of 273.58, 32-plus points ahead of Adam Rippon. Earlier Sunday, Caydee Denney and John Coughlin won their first pairs title together after winning the previous two years with other partners.

Speedskating • In Calgary, Alberta, China’s Yu Jing broke the world record in 500 meters Sunday and finished second in the 1,000 to win the world sprint speedskating championship. Yu won the 500 in 36.94 seconds. Canada’s Christine Nesbitt was second in the overall four-race competition, 0.02 points back.

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