Part of complete coverage on
Injured Vonn handed downhill title as fog denies Maze
updated 2:35 PM EDT, Wed March 13, 2013
Lindsey Vonn claimed a sixth successive downhill Crystal Globe after the final race of the season was canceled.
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- Lindsey Vonn wins sixth successive downhill title after final race canceled
- Vonn has been out of action since beginning of February with serious knee injury
- U.S. star now has 17 Crystal Globes, just two behind Ingemar Stenmark
- Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal wins men's downhill event
(CNN) -- Two years ago Lindsey Vonn suffered heartbreak when the weather gods robbed her of skiing's prestigious World Cup overall title.
Fast-forward to 2013 and it is Vonn's turn to thank the elements as the American has been handed the World Cup downhill crown for a record sixth year in a row -- despite being sidelined with a serious knee injury.
She held off Slovenia's Tina Maze by just a single point after bad fog forced the abandonment of the season's final downhill race in Lenzerheide in Switzerland on Wednesday.
Vonn wrote on her Facebook page: "Omg I won the World Cup Downhill title!!!!! 6 in a row with a bum knee! Everything in life comes back around. #believe #karma #onelegvictorydance #sochi2014."
Read: Vonn's injury not 'career ender'
The Sochi hashtag is a reference to next February's Winter Olympics in Russia, where the 28-year-old hopes to defend her downhill gold from Vancouver 2010.
She has now won 17 Crystal Globes -- handed out for the overall title and each of the six disciplines competed for each season. It puts her two short of male skiing legend Ingemar Stenmark, who holds the record of 19.
Vonn was airlifted to hospital on the opening day of February's world championships at Schladming, Austria, where she suffered a torn ACL and MCL in her right knee and a lateral tibial plateau fracture after crashing in the super G race.
After losing out to Maria Hofl-Riesch by just three points in agonizing circumstances following the cancellation of her race in 2011, Vonn was understandably thrilled with her latest success.
Read: Vonn injures knee in race crash
It had looked unlikely with overall World Cup champion Maze expected to overturn the one-point deficit, but fog at the bottom section of the racecourse forced a cancellation.
Going into the final event, Vonn led the standings with 340 points despite missing the preceding races at Meribel and Garmisch, with Maze right behind her.
Hofl-Riesch ended up third and Vonn's U.S. teammate Stacy Cook was fourth.
Maze took to Twitter to congratulate Vonn, writing: "I guess the DH globe belongs to someone else, Congratulation Lindsey! What goes around comes around!"
Read: Skiing's pop queen Maze does it her way
Vonn overtook Annemarie Moser-Proll, who won five consecutive downhill titles between 1971-75 on her way to seven globes in the discipline. Vonn also eclipsed the Austrian's 16 globes.
In the men's World Cup, Aksel Lund Svindal was declared downhill champion after Wednesday's event was called off.
The Norwegian, who has now won nine globes during his career, boasted a 58-point advantage over defending champion Klaus Kroll of Austria going into Finals week.
Svindal's victory makes him just the seventh man in the sport's history to win the downhill and super-G titles in the same season.
Part of complete coverage on
updated
"Jamaica, we have a bobsled team," cried the Hollywood film that immortalized an unlikely quartet of Winter Olympians who became a worldwide hit.
updated 1:25 PM EDT, Mon March 18, 2013
CNN's Christina Macfarlane speaks with World Cup skiing champion Marcel Hirscher about clinching his second successive overall title.
updated 1:00 PM EDT, Mon March 18, 2013
Alpine Edge's Christina Macfarlane reports on the U.S. ski team's remarkable success at the World Cup finals in Switzerland.
updated 2:35 PM EDT, Wed March 13, 2013
Injured U.S. star Lindsey Vonn claims a record sixth successive downhill title after the final race of the World Cup season is hit by fog.
updated 8:31 AM EST, Mon March 4, 2013
Whether it's breaking records on the piste, or making hit records in the studio, Tina Maze is determined to do things her way.
updated 9:20 AM EST, Fri March 1, 2013
He is one of the greatest skiers of all time, the winner of every major prize, but when Alberto Tomba looks back on his career he feels one regret.
updated 6:56 AM EST, Mon February 25, 2013
From over 50 years of 007, the most iconic James Bond scene of all time is arguably the opening skiing sequence in "The Spy Who Loved Me."
updated 12:55 PM EST, Fri February 15, 2013
Olympic and world champion Ted Ligety loosens up his body before throwing himself down the mountain.
updated 12:51 PM EST, Fri February 15, 2013
CNN's Christina MacFarlane visits Schladming ski resort where investment has bucked the trend of austerity.
updated 6:59 AM EST, Fri February 8, 2013
The snow-covered mountains tower above the sub-tropical beach, but what sets Sochi apart is its sheer scale of concrete and steel.
updated 12:50 PM EST, Mon January 28, 2013
CNN's Christina Macfarlane meets Norway's World Cup skiing star Aksel Lund Svindal.
updated 5:57 AM EST, Fri January 25, 2013
Franz Klammer had few relationship issues with the fearsome mountain run that all skiers want to conquer.
updated 9:42 AM EST, Mon January 28, 2013
CNN's Christina Macfarlane tests the latest ski technology, including a leading brand's new GPS goggles.
updated 6:49 AM EST, Mon January 21, 2013
CNN's Christina MacFarlane visits the oldest ski factory in the world, Rossignol.
updated 6:53 AM EST, Mon January 21, 2013
Safety specialists at Wengen work on-piste can make the difference between life and death for ski racers.
updated 9:30 AM EST, Thu January 17, 2013
World Cup alpine skier Ivica Kostelic talks to CNN's Alpine Edge series about his sister Janica's influence on his career.
updated 11:42 AM EST, Mon January 14, 2013
As the winter sports season reaches its peak in Europe and North America so the toll of deaths and injuries will surely mount.
updated 9:04 AM EST, Thu January 10, 2013
We love the glamor of alpine racing, but do we love it enough to keep watching when skiing's "dark side" is so much more on the edge?
updated 8:08 AM EST, Wed December 19, 2012
"Mittens don't clap," is how California-based cowbell importer Elisabeth Halvorson explains it.
updated 11:26 AM EST, Thu December 20, 2012
CNN's Alpine Edge takes a pictorial look at the career of champion Norwegian skier Aksel Lund Svindal.
updated 8:00 AM EST, Wed December 19, 2012
Buried deep in the French Alps, a tiny 11th-century village has produced some of the most successful -- and wild-spirited -- skiers in racing history.
updated 11:20 AM EST, Thu December 13, 2012
With the European leg of the Skiing World Cup in full swing, CNN's Alpine Edge takes you inside five of the continent's most high-profile locations.
© 2013 Cable News Network. Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|