Elisabeth Goergl of Austria leads after first women's giant slalom run; Lindsey Vonn crashes

Elisabeth Goergl of Austria holds the lead after Wednesday's opening run of the Olympic giant slalom, while American Lindsey Vonn crashed and injured her right pinkie.

Goergl finished in 1 minute, 15.12 seconds. Taina Barioz of France was only 0.02 behind, and Kathrin Zettel of Austria was third, 0.16 back.

Vonn lost control around a right turn in the middle section of the course, got twisted around, landed hard on her left hip and crashed backward into the safety netting.

Defending champion Julia Mancuso's  first run was interrupted by  Vonn's crash. Mancuso was brought back up for another try and placed 18th, 1.30 seconds behind Goergl.

“The course is breaking up at the bottom.  I got a little bit too inside and lost my outside ski," Vonn said. "My knee came up and hit my chin.  I got all tangled up and hit the fence.  I hurt my finger [right pinkie] and need to get it X-rayed.”

-- Houston Mitchell in Vancouver, Canada

Photo: Elisabeth Goergl competes in the giant slalom on Wednesday. Credit: Alessandro Della Bella / EPA