Bode Miller skips slalom after spraining an ankle

ASSOCIATED PRESS

VAL D’ISERE, France — Marcel Hirscher of Austria claimed his first World Cup victory on Sunday, winning a giant slalom in the French Alps that Bode Miller skipped after spraining his ankle playing volleyball.

Hirscher led after the first run on the challenging Face de Bellevarde course and finished in a combined time of 2 minutes, 16.28 seconds. Massimiliano Blardone of Italy was 0.77 seconds off the pace and Benjamin Raich of Austria was third, 1.32 back.

The U.S. team said Miller didn’t want to take the risk of aggravating the injury by competing in the GS. The two-time World Cup champion is expected to race four events next week in Italy, at Val Gardena and Alta Badia.

World Cup

ARE, Sweden — With thick fog covering one of her least favorite slalom slopes, Lindsey Vonn for once had to give up all thoughts of skiing to win.

Vonn put down a safe second run to finish eighth in a World Cup slalom on Sunday, losing the overall points lead to Maria Riesch of Germany but limiting the damage from a disappointing weekend.

Riesch finished second behind Sandrine Aubert of France and now leads the American by 20 points in the overall World Cup standings.

Speedskating

KEARNS, Utah — Shani Davis claimed his second title in three days, winning the 1,000 meters in the final long-track speedskating World Cup before the Vancouver Olympics.

The American skated the distance in 1 minute, 6.67 seconds Sunday at the Utah Olympic Oval, again beating rival Chad Hedrick, who was fifth.

Davis won the 1,500 on Friday, lowering his own world record. He also owns the world mark in the 1,000.