Lindsey Vonn falls during 1st run of World Cup slalom won by Austria’s Marlies Schild

Vonn falls, Schild wins World Cup slalom

FLACHAU, Austria — Lindsey Vonn of the United States fell during the first run of a World Cup slalom Tuesday but was not hurt in the night event won by Marlies Schild of Austria.

She straddled a gate halfway down the course after losing her right ski. Despite the fall, Vonn kept the lead in the overall standings.

Vonn has skied with a protective brace on her lower left arm since bruising it during a crash in the giant slalom last month.

“It’s difficult as long as my arm hurts,” Vonn said. “But happily there are not many slaloms left this season.”

Vonn is coming off wins in speed races over three straight days last weekend, a first for an American.

Vonn said she will put in some extra slalom training this week ahead of the technical races next weekend in Maribor, Slovenia.

Schild finished in a combined 1 minute, 37.89 seconds for her second win of the season and 22nd of her career. Sarah Schleper was the fastest American, finishing 17th in 1:41.08.

Schild, who missed all last season with a broken leg, was the only skier to finish the course in less than 50 seconds. She was fifth after the opening leg.

“I never thought it was possible (to win),” said Schild, who had 1.04 seconds to make up in the second run. “But you should never start calculating. I just didn’t want to think about the huge deficit and I managed to put it out of my mind.”

Maria Riesch of Germany was second, 0.34 seconds behind. She trails Vonn in the overall World Cup standings by 112 points.

Kathrin Zettel of Austria was 0.42 back in third for her seventh podium finish of the season.

Maria’s sister Susanne Riesch, who led after the opening run, straddled a gate early in her second run. Sandrine Aubert of France, a winner of two slaloms this season, straddled the final gate and also missed the second run.

Anja Paerson of Sweden also went out after losing her balance and appeared to have injured her right knee.

Riesch, the slalom world champion, overtook Aubert in the discipline with 373 points. Second-placed Schild has 320 and Aubert has 316.