World Cup champion Vonn to deal with sluggish course, arm injury at Zagreb World Cup slalom

Vonn to ski with arm injury in slalom in Croatia

ZAGREB, Croatia — With her arm in a brace and a sluggish course waiting, Lindsey Vonn will try to bolster her lead in the overall standings in a World Cup slalom Sunday.

Warm weather and heavy rain Saturday damaged the Crveni Spust course on Sljeme hill. Organizers anticipate the race will be held, with temperatures expected to drop overnight and machine-made snow to be added to the course.

Vonn is still in pain after bruising her left arm in a crash during Monday’s giant slalom at Lienz, Austria. She got a new arm splint at the U.S. team’s training base in Zell am See, Austria, where she spent a restful New Year’s Eve.

“Zagreb is always such an awesome race and I’m going to do my best to be ready,” Vonn said.

The winner of the annual Snow Queen Trophy, the fifth of eight slalom events this season, will earn $71,000, the biggest paycheck in women’s skiing.

“It’s the World Cup slalom that everyone wants to win. I’m certainly going to try my best, arm brace and all,” Vonn said.

Vonn, the defending overall World Cup champion, won two of her 25 World Cup titles in slalom — both last season. Despite her injury, she has not lost sight of the bigger picture with the Vancouver Games a month away.

“Skiing is my life and I wouldn’t trade that for anything,” she said. “I’ve traveled the world, raced in two Olympics and am getting ready for a third. It’s what I’ve dreamed of since I was a little kid.”

Among the favorites Sunday are Germany’s Maria Riesch, the World Cup slalom champion who won at this site last year, and Austria’s Marlies Schild, who returned to the circuit this season and won her first title in Lienz on Tuesday after breaking her leg in October 2008.

Riesch leads the discipline standings with 243 points but has been unhappy with her recent form. She finished 14th in Lienz.

“New year, new chances,” Riesch said.

Schild, who won the crystal globe for best slalom racer in 2007 and ‘08, trails Riesch by 23 points. She has won twice and finished on the podium in all four races she has competed in Zagreb.

“But I’ll have to be satisfied also if I finished fifth,” Schild said. “It’s important that I don’t put too much pressure on myself.”

Two more women’s slaloms are scheduled for January before Vancouver — in Flachau, Austria, and Maribor, Slovenia. The season-ending race is in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in March.

The Zagreb event will also stage a men’s World Cup night slalom Wednesday.