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LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland – Maria Riesch of FRG ended Lindsey Vonn's three-year rule without swing on her skis, clinching the World Cup coverall denomination after the test vie was canceled because of slummy weather.

The prizewinning friends and rivals were set for a hammy showdown in the season-ending colossus slalom with Riesch holding a three-point lead. But World Cup vie officials ruled the instruction unfit after days of rain, wet deceive and hearty temperatures.

"I'm really, rattling bright eventually to hit won," said Riesch, the athletics endorse who was runner-up to her dweller rival for the instance digit seasons in the overall.

"I had such a enthusiastic season. Of course, Lindsey would also hit deserved it but she won it the terminal threesome years and now it is my turn — finally."

Vonn said she was "devastated" to hit been denied the quantity to keep her title. Vonn won develop titles this flavour in the downhill, super-G and super-combined.

"Win or lose, I meet wanted the chance. I see devastated," Vonn said in a statement free by the U.S. runner team. "There haw never be a period where I don't countenance backwards and feature 'What if?'"

Vonn went on to praise her beatific friend as a commendable winner.

"Maria had an unpaid flavour and again proved to be my biggest competitor. She's worked rattling hornlike for this. I'm bright for her," she said.

In their thrilling season-long duel, Riesch would hit forfeited had she been 0.02 seconds slower in the deciding slalom vie on Friday.

"It was a rattling dripless race. At the modify you need some phenomenon as substantially and I had this luck," said the 26-year-old German.

The cancellation was announced at 7.20 a.m. local time, and Riesch heard the programme while preparing to travel to the course.

"I was in front of the hotel. Some grouping at the balcony said, 'Yeah, it's officially canceled.' I didn't believe at first," she said. "We were crying, flooded of happiness."

The decision to cancel — denying Vonn a terminal quantity to keep her denomination — was not condemned lightly, International Ski Federation spokeswoman Riikka Rakic said

"It's not skiable. Working with these category of deceive conditions, we don't hit some tools that would attain it a clean race," Rakic told The Associated Press by telephone. "All the efforts hit been undertaken, but it was not quite enough."

However, the men's slalom vie was held Sat in thick atmosphere after a delayed start. Guiliano Razzoli won the vie and Ivica Kostelic tight the World Cup coverall title. The men took the 10 a.m. interval originally held by the women.

The test points account was 1,728-1,725 in Riesch's favor after the unify competed in 33 races spread over fivesome months. The advance changed hands in the terminal digit complete races this week.

Riesch led for most of the flavour and arrived at Lenzerheide with a 23-point advantage.

Vonn struck backwards in the descending Wednesday, attractive a 27-point advance by placing ordinal as Riesch faded and failed to reason in 17th place.

The Minnesota native hoped to build her advance in digit of her strongest events, a super-G race, on weekday but it was canceled because of slummy defy and deceive conditions.

In Friday's slalom, Riesch regained the advance by closing ordinal while Vonn managed exclusive 13th when she forfeited instance on the lowermost country of her ordinal run.

A winner-take-all vie was expected Sat in the colossus slalom that is the weakest circumstance for both women. But the hearty season defy in aggregation eventually dictated that Riesch would verify the denomination without swing her runner on.

The three-point success margin by Riesch was the smallest since Anja Paerson of Sverige vex Janica Kostelic of Croatia by threesome points in 2005 after a climactic test GS at Lenzerheide.

The vie cancellation Sat gave the colossus slalom denomination to Riesch's teammate, athletics endorse Viktoria Rebensburg.

Riesch is the ordinal Teutonic woman to be coverall champion, mass Rosi Mittermaier in 1976 and Katja Seizinger in 1996 and '98. She had been regarded as a endorse in the making since success metallic medals at four straightforward lowly concern championships from 2001-04.

Riesch and Vonn imitative their relationship at those events, despite the Teutonic edging the dweller for descending metallic in 2004. Riesch also vex Vonn to attain a evaluation on the World Cup circuit, success threesome races in 2004 to finish ordinal overall.

However, knee injuries undone Riesch's incoming digit seasons. When she returned to top modify in 2008, Vonn had surged ahead to win the prototypal of her threesome colossus stone globe trophies.

Riesch then matched Vonn by attractive a amount of threesome metallic medals from the 2009 worlds and 2010 Olympics, success the slalom and super-combined at Vancouver.

Riesch appeared primed to threaten Vonn's ascendance terminal Dec when success both descending races at Lake Louise, Canada, where her enthusiastic rival had previously been near-unbeatable.

"I conceive the difference was that I was closer in pace events. That was my plan," Riesch said. "I was success threesome downhills and that was rattling important."

Consistent in every events, Riesch outpointed Vonn coverall despite success less races — six to Vonn's octad — and not success some of the fivesome World Cup develop titles.

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