With the finish and the victory literally in sight, American Lindsey Vonn made a costly error.

Vonn, 24, crashed just five gates before the finish yesterday on the icy Crveni Spust slalom course in Zagreb, Croatia, losing a likely victory and the overall lead in the World Cup standings.

Maria Riesch of Germany finished in a combined time of 1:58.69 to win her third consecutive slalom and take the lead in the standings.

Vonn led after the opening leg and was 0.94 seconds faster than Riesch at the second intermediate time in the final run before hitting a gate and crashing. She was not injured.

Riesch has 607 points to lead the overall standings for the first time in her career. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland, who finished seventh, is next with 543 and Vonn is third with 530.

• Nordic combined: Bill Demong of the United States finished second in a Nordic combined World Cup event in Schonach, Germany, giving him his third podium finish of the season and moving him up to second in the overall standings behind winner Anssi Koivuranta of Finland. Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y., placed 18th in the jumping segment of the competition but was second fastest in the 10-kilometer cross-country race after teammate Johnny Spillane of Steamboat Springs, Colo. Demong gave the U.S. team its fifth consecutive podium finish.

• Bobsled: John Napier and Bree Schaaf won the U.S. National Bobsled Championships in Lake Placid, N.Y., and qualified for the World Championships. Napier, of Schenectady, N.Y., and brakeman Cory Butner of Yucaipa, Calif., won in 3:45.87 in the four-heat race. They held off Mike Kohn of Chantilly, Va., and brakeman Jacob Miller of Waterford, Va., by 0.30 seconds.

• Cross country: Races at the U.S. championship in Anchorage, Alaska, were postponed for the second day in row by temperatures that neared 11-degrees below zero.