Italy edge out Switzerland for early world title gold
Italy beat Switzerland to win the mixed team parallel event that opened the Alpine skiing world championships at Saalbach-Hinterglemm in Austria.
Thomas Tumler was slow out of the gate in the decisive heat of the final and could not catch up to Italy's Alex Vinatzer. The final ended 2-2 and Italy won with an advantage of 0.45 seconds in total time.
It could be the start of a big championships for Italy, who have Federica Brignone and Sofia Goggia in top form and among the favourites in multiple events.
"It's a good start because we invest a lot," Italian team leader Max Carca said. "We have a lot of expectations from the girls side."
Defending champions the United States missed a chance for a medal when Isaiah Nelson lost control toward the end of the fourth and decisive run of the bronze-medal race, handing the medal to Sweden and leaving the Americans in fourth.
Hosts Austria, who had a first-round bye, were eliminated immediately by Sweden.
In the final, Giorgia Collomb beat Wendy Holdener before Luca Aerni equalised for Switzerland by beating Filippo Della Vite.
Then Delphine Darbellay put Switzerland ahead when Lara Della Mea made a series of errors. But Vinatzer, who recently finished second in a World Cup slalom in Kitzbuehel, secured the title.
The women's super-G featuring Brignone, Goggia and Lindsey Vonn on Thursday is the first individual event of the championships.
Vonn, who returned to the skiing circuit in December at the age of 40 with part of her right knee replaced with titanium, was placed 20th in an open training session.
The American legend said: "This is probably the worst hill for someone with bad knees, but I felt great. None of the landings hurt at all."
Vonn said in a recent interview that the main goal of her comeback is to compete at next season's Milan-Cortina Olympics, after which she'll head back into retirement.
She said: "This season is all about figuring out what it's going to take to be successful next year."
