Lara Gut seals overall title ahead of sidelined Lindsey Vonn

With Lindsey Vonn sidelined by injury, Switzerland’s Lara Gut put the seal on her first overall World Cup title with a third place in the alpine combined race Sunday in Lenzerheide.

The podium finish left Gut with an unassailable lead over Vonn and her nearest challengers with just four races of the season at the World Cup finals in St. Moritz to go.

American Vonn, who had battled Gut all season at the top of the standings, called a halt to her season with a hairline fracture of her knee.

The combined race was won by Gut’s teammate Wendy Holdener, her second career victory wrapping up the overall title in that discipline.

“I feel like I still don’t know that I won a globe,” the 22-year-old told the official FIS website. “Maybe tomorrow I will realize it. I honestly didn’t think it would happen this morning.”

Austrian Michaela Kirchgasser was second with Gut in third.

Gut was only ninth fastest in the opening slalom leg, but finished fastest in the super-G run to secure her crystal globe, the first in the overall competition for a Swiss skier since Carlo Janka in 2010,

Read: Vonn: Skiing’s pin-up girl

“Now I can go to St. Moritz and only focus on my skiing,” a relieved Gut said . “There is no need to speak about points but just about the races. I will only get the globe on the last day anyway.”

The 24-year-old Gut took the downhill bronze at the Sochi Olympics and also has four world championship medals, along with 18 World Cup victories and 31 podiums.

Read: Paris closes on downhill title

In men’s World Cup competition Sunday, Norway’s Kjetil Jansrud won the super-G on home snow in Kvitfjell to keep alive his hopes of claiming the overall globe in that discipline.

Read: Hirscher double with overall title in sight

His victory leaves him 40 points behind current leader and teammate Aleksander Aamodt Kilde ahead of the finals.

Austria’s Vincent Kriechmayr finished in second place with Italy’s downhill star Dominik Paris in third place.