Maze claims super-combi

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — Tina Maze of Slovenia won her third race of the season by finishing first in both runs of a World Cup super-combined event Friday, while Lindsey Vonn failed to finish.

Vonn was fourth in the super-G but lost control of a ski during an early turn in her slalom run and failed to finish.

Maze extended her lead in the overall standings by finishing in an aggregate time of 2 minutes, 1.76 seconds after the super-G and slalom. She defeated Nicole Hosp of Austria by 0.88, while Kathrin Zettel of Austria was 1.08 behind in third.

Julia Mancuso of the United States was fifth after the super-G, but slipped to 11th after posting the 23rd-fastest time in the slalom. World super-combined champion Anna Fenninger of Austria was seventh, 1.90 behind Maze.

The Slovenian finished runnerup to overall champion Vonn last season without winning a race. She now leads the American by 187 points despite Vonn's three straight wins last week at Lake Louise, Alberta.

"I am so strong because I trained hard for the season," said Maze, who has 14 World Cup victories. "I put in a lot of hard work. That makes me full of confidence."

Maze led by 0.01 after the super-G ahead of Lara Gut of Switzerland, who dropped to fifth following the slalom.

"It's a nice course, but the visibility wasn't great," said Maze, who has won races in every discipline except for super-G. "I am very satisfied, it feels good. I've had good super-G runs in the past, but it never worked out in the end."

Maze tops the standings with 497 points. Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, who missed out on the podium by 0.11 in fourth place, is second with 369. Next is Zettel with 320 and Vonn with 310.

Hosp, the 2007 overall champion, was seventh after the super-G. She was fast enough in the slalom to earn her first podium finish since the race here last season.

"At ski racing, your mind plays an important role," said Hosp, who has not won a World Cup race since capturing a slalom in January 2008 at Maribor, Slovenia. "If you don't get the results it's hard to stay relaxed. I hope this race will help me for the rest of the winter."

This was the first of only two super-combined events this season. They count for the overall standings, but no crystal globe will be awarded to the discipline champion.

A regular super-G was to be held on the same course Saturday, followed by a giant slalom Sunday.

VAL D'ISERE, France — Ted Ligety is an outspoken critic of skiing's governing body and has a penchant for his own self-designed day-glo goggles and helmets, but he has emerged as a real World Cup title contender.

After a preseason rage against the International Ski Federation (FIS) over changes to skis the body claimed were made on safety grounds, Ligety has ironically emerged as the racer who has best adapted to the modifications.

But that did not stop him having another go at the FIS on Friday ahead of a World Cup slalom on Saturday and a giant slalom 24 hours later.

"My argument against the ski changes was never about whether it would be good or bad for me," said the 28-year-old American, who has won the season's opening two giant slaloms by a staggering average of 2.25 seconds.

It was about the fact that ski racers had zero way to talk about the changes.

"It's extremely wrong when you have a governing body coming out with rules and not even asking the athletes, and especially when it has to do with ski changes that are important to the fun and safety of the sport."

"We were completely disregarded," he said, adding that the increased safety argument put forward by the FIS was not genuine, naming a handful of racers who have recently injured knees.

"The No. 1 reason for injuries is snow conditions and course preparation."

Ligety's best finish in the overall World Cup standings was fifth in 2008 and the American insisted that increased consistency in the slalom and his improving super-G performances would be the backbone of his push to top the podium.

"My goal is to get back on to the slalom podium and to fight for podium positions," said Ligety, whose last slalom podium was a third place in Wengen in 2008.

"A big goal of mine is to win the overall title and I think the path to get there is being one of the best slalom skiers."

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