Skiing through pain is nothing new for Lindsey Vonn. She is also winning some of her toughest races while injured. Fortified by painkillers, she won a super-G on Sunday at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, despite a strained left knee. She injured herself the day before on a strenuous and spectacular recovery in a downhill.
"It's really swollen and it's pretty solid pain," Vonn said. "But that's part of the job. It's definitely not the worst injury I've had by a long shot."Vonn finished in 1 minute 22.64 seconds, beating overall World Cup rival Maria Riesch of Germany by 0.05 of a second. Swiss teenager Lara Gut finished third, 0.88 back. It was the second victory in three days for Vonn, who won a super-G Friday on the Olympia delle Tofane course. Julia Mancuso, Vonn's American teammate, finished fourth and Sweden's Anja Paerson was fifth.Last year, Vonn had a severely bruised shin when she won the Olympic downhill and took the bronze in the super-G in Vancouver. The year before she won her second consecutive overall World Cup title despite slicing her thumb on a champagne bottle in a victory celebration at the world championships.
"Nothing really tops the shin injury," Vonn said. "I feel like I've dealt with a lot of injuries in the past, and this one is pretty mild."
Jean-Baptiste Grange of France won a World Cup slalom at Kitzbuehel, Austria, and overall leader Ivica Kostelic of Croatia placed second to take the combined event, his sixth title this month.
GOLF
Kaymer replaces Woods at No. 2
Martin Kaymer overtook Tiger Woods for the No. 2 ranking in the world, winning the Abu Dhabi Golf Championship at Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, by eight shots after shooting a six-under-par 66.
Kaymer held a five-shot lead going into the final round and had no problem securing his third win in four years in Abu Dhabi, finishing at 24-under 264. Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland finished second after a 69, and Retief Goosen and Graeme McDowell were another two shots back in third.
It was the biggest winning margin and lowest total score in the tournament's history.
Kaymer had been third in the world rankings and now trails only Lee Westwood.
Goosen had a 64, the best round of the day, while McDowell closed with a 67.
John Cook birdied five consecutive holes after the turn to win the Champions Tour's season-opening Mitsubishi Electric Championship at Kaupulehu-Kona, Hawaii, shooting a second straight eight-under 64 for a two-stroke victory over Tom Lehman. Cook, 53, had eight birdies in his bogey-free round for a 22-under 194 total.
ETC.
Nabokov hasn't joined Islanders
Evgeni Nabokov failed to report to the New York Islanders after he was claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings, but Islanders General Manager Garth Snow has not soured on the veteran goaltender. Snow called Nabokov on Saturday shortly after the Islanders claimed him, but Snow said that when he identified himself, Nabokov hung up. Snow finally talked to Nabokov on Sunday and was told that Nabokov didn't realize to whom he was speaking when he abruptly ended the call.
New York owns Nabokov's rights and could keep him out of the NHL for all of next season should he not report. Nabokov told ESPN.com that his decision to spurn the Islanders is not personal. He merely intended to join a title-contending team and not an also-ran club such as the Islanders.
Peter Forsberg practiced with the Colorado Avalanche and said he still wants to attempt a comeback if his right foot can handle it. "It's good. Can't complain. It's been worse," said Forsberg, 37, who has yet to sign a contract and hasn't been promised anything beyond a chance to measure his conditioning level against the team.
Right-handed reliever Darren O'Day and the Texas Rangers agreed to terms on a $1.25-million, one-year deal, avoiding salary arbitration. O'Day was 6-2 with a 2.03 earned-run average last year.
Lindsey Tarpley and Lauren Cheney scored as the U.S. women's soccer team beat Canada, 2-1, at Beijing in the Four Nations tournament, a warmup for this summer's Women's World Cup in Germany. The U.S. plays China on Tuesday.