Vonn's downhill win lifts spirits in Vancouver

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - American Lindsey Vonn defied a painful shin injury to win the women's downhill on Wednesday and briefly help lift the gloom shrouding the Vancouver Winter Olympics.

Vonn, who could not ski for a week because of an injury that threatened her participation in the race, won the women's blue-ribbon event on a picture-perfect winter's day in the Canadian mountains.

The 25-year-old hurtled down an icy Whistler mountain in one minute 44.19 seconds to win her first Olympic gold medal, collapsing into the snow after she crossed the finish line.

Her American team mate Julia Mancuso collected the silver medal, 0.56 seconds behind Vonn, while Austria's Elisabeth Goergl won the bronze medal.

Germany's Maria Riesch, Vonn's best friend and main rival, was unable to produce her best and finished well out of the medals.

Vonn's victory in one of the most dangerous and glamorous events of the Olympics provided a rare feelgood story to a Games blighted by tragedy and unseasonal bad weather.

Almost on cue, the heavy snow falls and thick fog that forced the postponement of some of the earlier Alpine events finally gave way to clear blue skies and transformed the mountain into a winter wonderland.

RAISED QUESTIONS

The women's downhill was one of seven gold medals to be decided in six sports on Wednesday, including the luge doubles.

The sport has been unwittingly thrust into the spotlight following the death of Georgian slider Nodar Kumaritashvili during a training run last week.

His death has cast a pall over the Games that has been impossible to lift and raised questions over the safety of the lightning-fast luge track.

The International Luge Federation and Games organizers said the track was safe and blamed human error for the death but their findings angered the family and friends of the 21-year-old, whose body was laid to rest at his homeland on Wednesday.

"Any athlete can make a mistake but this mistake should not result in death. This is sport, not gladiators," a family friend told mourners at the funeral.

Some of the practice sessions for the downhill had been canceled because of safety concerns and although the sunny skies provided a postcard backdrop, a handful of women, including Sweden's Anja Paerson, still came to grief on the slippery slope, though none were seriously injured.

Medal favorite Petra Majdic's hopes of reaching the final of the women's cross-country sprint classic ended after she badly hurt her ribs in a training accident earlier in the day.

The 30-year-old Slovenian, ranked the top women's sprinter for the last three years, tumbled off the course on a slippery downhill section and injured her right side.

The men's and women's cross-country sprint finals were both scheduled for later on Wednesday while medals were also on offer in speed skating, short track and snowboarding, where American Shaun White was preparing to perform one of the most difficult and intricate stunts in the hope of defending his half-pipe title.

Vonn's victory provided the United States with their third gold medal in Vancouver, level with Germany, South Korea and Switzerland at the top of the medal standings early on the fifth day of full competition.

(Editing by Miles Evans.)