Levi, Finland » Maria Riesch of Germany won the opening women's World Cup slalom Saturday, edging Lindsey Vonn of Park City by 0.08 seconds.

Riesch, the defending world slalom champion, finished with a two-run time of 1 minute, 48.71 seconds on the Black Course at the World Cup circuit's northernmost venue above the Arctic Circle.

Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was 1.16 behind in third place and kept the overall World Cup lead. Poutiainen won the opening giant slalom race of the season last month in Austria.

Vonn is coming off her second consecutive overall title last season, as well as winning the downhill and super-G titles. On Saturday, she barely lost to her good friend Riesch.

"I think I had a pretty solid first run, but in the second run I had some small mistakes," Vonn said. "Maria definitely had a great run today and I'm happy that she won. I'm happy with my second place. It was a solid result for me."

Speedskating

Lee Jung-Su of South Korea beat U.S. speedskater Apolo Anton Ohno in the men's 1,500-meter short track World Cup race at Marquette, Mich.

Lee finished in 2 minutes, 13.595 seconds and Ohno crossed in 2:13.731.

Katherine Reutter set an American record of 43.648 seconds in a quarterfinal heat of the women's 500 and then placed fourth in a final won by Wang Meng of China in 42.961.