Defending overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn was taken to the hospital with a left arm injury after crashing on the opening run of a giant slalom Monday.
Kathrin Hoelzl of Germany, who won the GS world title at Val d'Isere in February, was leading ahead of Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria and Taina Barioz of France after the first run. Vonn's main competitor in the overall standings, Germany's Maria Riesch, also went out.
Vonn sustained no broken bones in her crash, said Dr. Eduard Sporer of the Lienz district hospital. He added that she could be able to race in Tuesday's slalom.
"It's not a classic broken wrist, but a swelling or edema in the bone," Sporer said.
Vonn lost balance on a bump after a sharp left turn and fell backwards, hitting a gate and losing a ski. She stood up after lying down for almost 10 minutes and receiving first aid, put her skis back on and headed down the hill with her left arm in a sling.
"My arm really hurts," she said as she climbed into a waiting ambulance. "I don't know what has happened. I believe it's broken."
Riesch, who started immediately after Vonn, was distracted by the crash of her close friend and missed a gate on the middle section of the partly icy Schlossberg course.
"It's hard to stay focused and keep your concentration during such a break," said Riesch, who trails Vonn by 50 points in the overall World Cup standings. "But it wasn't the main reason for my mistake, it's more down to my lack of self-confidence in GS at the moment."
Hoelzl finished her near-perfect run in 1 minute, 8.17 seconds. Kirchgasser was 0.41 seconds behind in second, and Barioz was 0.52 off the pace.
"That went pretty well, but I know I have to fully attack again to stay ahead," Hoelzl said.
Austria's Kathrin Zettel, who leads the GS standings, was the fastest starter but skied off-course and finished 0.95 back in seventh. Zettel hurt her right knee in training Saturday and didn't decide to race until just before the start.
Olympic GS champion Julia Mancuso, who finished second at Lienz two years ago, did not qualify for the second run. The American hit a gate and came almost to a standstill before finishing more than 5.17 seconds behind the leader.
