Worlds great for Vonn, bad for Bode

VAL D’ISERE, France – Gold medals, parties, injuries, crashes.

That’s what these world championships were all about for Lindsey Vonn, the American ski star who won two golds, needed surgery for a thumb injury caused by a broken champagne bottle, missed her next race, and then fell in her final one while wearing a splint to protect her thumb.

“It’s definitely had a lot of ups and downs,” Vonn said. “All in all I’m really happy with the way the world championships went. I was able to win at a big event, which has been a goal of mine for a long time. I think I’m on the right track for Vancouver.”

In one year, Vonn will likely enter the 2010 Winter Olympics as the U.S. team’s top medal hope – in all sports.

There probably won’t be too much pressure on Bode Miller in Vancouver – if he’s still competing next season. The defending overall World Cup champion completed his third consecutive major championship without a medal.

Miller was unlucky in the downhill, when he was slowed by more fog than any other skier, finishing eighth. Then in super-combi, Miller missed out on a certain medal when he straddled a gate in the slalom leg.

Miller has decided to skip two World Cup races in Sestriere, Italy, next weekend, saying he will return to the tour in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, in two weeks.

“I wanted a break and I want some warm weather,” Miller said.

This was the first championship for Miller since he broke away from the U.S. Ski Team to train and race on his own. The team’s top star is now Ted Ligety, who won combined gold at the 2006 Turin Olympics.

Ligety picked up a bronze in giant slalom here with a blistering second run that moved him up from ninth after the opening leg.

Ligety was also plagued by ups and downs. After falling in the super-G – and sliding downhill on his backside for several hundred yards – he was disqualified from the super-combi because his binding was 0.15 millimeters too high.

In the slalom, Ligety went out almost as soon as he started his second run.

Vonn exceeded her goals with two golds. She opened the championships by winning the super-G, was disqualified from the super-combi for straddling a gate in the slalom leg, then bounced back to win her second gold – the one she wanted most – in downhill.

The downhill victory celebration turned into chaos when Vonn had trouble opening a champagne bottle and someone else hacked it open with a ski. Vonn didn’t notice the bottle’s jagged edge and severed a tendon when she grabbed it.

Vonn jetted to Innsbruck, Austria, for surgery and returned to Val d’Isere a day later. She entered the slalom with a splint protecting her injured right thumb, covered by a glove and loads of duct tape.

Vonn managed to finish second in the first run of the slalom, but fell shortly into her second run because she wasn’t able to properly plant her right pole.

Vonn will now turn her attention to defending her overall World Cup title when the circuit resumes in Tarvisio, Italy, next week. She leads the standings with 1,114 points, 79 ahead of good friend Maria Riesch of Germany.