Vonn triple thwarted by Hoefl-Riesch

Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany reacts after the slalom competition of the women's Alpine skiing World Cup super combined race in the Swiss mountain resort of St. Moritz January 29, 2012.

ST MORITZ, Switzerland (Reuters) - World Cup holder Maria Hoefl-Riesch took her first victory of the Alpine ski season in a women's super-combined on Sunday to deny Lindsey Vonn a triple triumph and 50th career win.

The Olympic champion was second fastest in the morning Super-G section behind World Cup leader Vonn and beat the American by a slim 0.03 seconds after the slalom with a combined winning time of two minutes and 8.41 seconds.

Austria's Nicole Hosp was third, the same as in the previous super-combined held on the same piste on Friday.

Hosp, the 2007 World Cup winner, was fastest in the slalom and finished 0.48 behind Vonn who had won Friday's super-combined and Saturday's downhill in St. Moritz.

"I'm really glad. Victory is even sweeter when you have been waiting for it. It's been a tough time for me. I've been criticized, questioned," said Hoefl-Riesch.

"But since I took a break in Bad Kleinkirchheim, things have been improving. I was mad after Friday's super combined but yesterday's downhill restored my confidence," added the German.

Hoefl-Riesch had squandered her chances in Friday's super-combined with a huge mistake in the slalom section but finished a morale-boosting second in Saturday's downhill on the same course.

"I was lucky that they changed the spot of the slalom today as the snow was softer, with a better grip and I could give it my all," she said.

The German, who has moved to Kitzbuehel since her marriage last year, will return to the familiar surroundings of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in her native Bavaria next weekend with far less pressure.

Vonn felt the hat-trick of wins had slipped away in the morning's super-G run.

"I tried as hard as I could. I would have loved to celebrate my 50th World Cup win here in St Moritz. But victory is not as easy as it seems. I had to ski five hard-fought runs in three days and it's exhausting," she said.

"Hopefully, I will get that 50th win in Maria's home in Garmisch.

"My skiing was good, my concentration was good, but a series of small mistakes cost me much time. I cut my edges funny a couple of times," added Vonn, who has a lead of 387 points in the overall World Cup standings over Slovenia's Tina Maze.

Hoefl-Riesch is third overall and 554 points behind Vonn.

(Reporting by Patrick Lang; Edited by Alan Baldwin)