CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland - Dominique Gisin won her first World Cup race in more than a year in a Crans Montana super-G on Sunday, a day after a poor downhill left her wondering whether she would even take part. Winner of two downhills last January, the 24-year-old Swiss beat Americans Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso in a windswept race, with weather conditions once again playing a major part. Gisin, whose career has been hampered by injuries, won in a time of one minute, 24.14 seconds, beating Vonn by 0.15 seconds and Mancuso by 0.38. "I can hardly believe it. Yesterday [Saturday] I probably skied the worst downhill in my career and I even wondered whether it was worth starting today," Gisin said. "But I'm a fighter and I told myself I could not beat the wind, but had nothing to lose. To win a super-G, which is not my best event, in front of my home crowd is just unbelievable," she added. Vonn, who narrowly won Saturday's downhill on the same piste, was denied her 11th victory of the season and an American record of 33 World Cup wins, but increased her overall World Cup lead over rival Maria Riesch. With four races left at the World Cup finals in Riesch's native resort of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, the American downhill Olympic champion leads the German, who won the slalom and super-combined gold medals in Vancouver, by 245 points. "My plan was to win both races here, but I leave Crans-Montana with three globes in my pocket and it's a good thing before Garmisch. "I'm still very nervous ahead of the finals. My aim there is to be OK in the technical events at last," she said. Mancuso, winner of two medals in Vancouver, confirmed her return to form with her first World Cup podium in two years. The American's last victory was more than three years ago.
