Fenninger wins overall World Cup

LENZERHEIDE, Switzerland: Anna Fenninger of Austria clinched her first overall World Cup title on Thursday by placing second in a super-G won by Lara Gut of Switzerland.

Fenninger built a 215-point lead over Gut with two races remaining this weekend and cannot be caught.

She punched the air with her right fist on crossing the line as race leader, starting before Gut, then blew a kiss to the television camera while waiting for her rival in the finish area.

The 24-year-old Austrian, Fenninger´s path to the title was eased when her closest challenger, Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany, sustained season-ending injuries after crashing in the downhill on Wednesday.

Fenninger adds Alpine skiing´s Crystal Globe to the Olympic gold medal in super-G and silver in giant slalom she won in Sochi last month.

Gut won for the second straight day to clinch the season-long super-G title, a first career World Cup trophy for the 22-year-old racer.

She timed 1 minute, 17.14 seconds down the sunbathed course, 0.61 seconds faster than Fenninger.

Tina Maze of Slovenia, the defending overall champion, trailed Gut by 0.95 in third.

Her seventh World Cup race win this season is the most on the women´s circuit, though Fenninger has been more consistent.

Fenninger finished second in the downhill standings, behind Hoefl-Riesch, and to Gut in super-G. She also stands second in the giant slalom points race behind Jessica Lindell-Vikarby of Sweden. The final GS race closes the season on Sunday.

By then, Austria hopes Marcel Hirscher will have clinched the men´s overall title to give the Alpine nation its first double success since 2002. (AP)