WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS-VONN'S LAST RACE
Vonn closes career with bronze medal
ARE, Sweden (AP) — Five days after crashing in super-G, Lindsey Vonn bounced back to win the bronze medal in the world championship downhill Sunday in the final race of her career.
It's a medal that brings Vonn full circle: The American's two silvers at the 2007 worlds on the same course in Sweden were the first two major championship medals of her career.
Vonn becomes the first female skier to win medals at six different world championships. It's also her fifth downhill medal at worlds, matching the record established by Annemarie Moser-Proell and Christel Cranz.
Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia won gold with a virtually flawless run from No. 9 in the field to top her rival and become the first woman to retain the world downhill title since Maria Walliser in 1989. Stuhec finished 0.23 seconds ahead of Corinne Suter of Switzerland and 0.49 ahead of Vonn.
Vonn says winning bronze was "the best I could have done today" because "there's not another gear."
Vonn had been planning on retiring in December but she recently moved up her retirement plans due to persistent pain in both of her surgically repaired knees. She then crashed in Tuesday's super-G, coming away with a black eye and a bruised rib.
Vonn will undergo knee surgery for the seventh time when she returns to the United States.
FIGURE SKATING-FOUR CONTINENTS
Japan's Shoma Uno takes men's title at Four Continents
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Japan's Shoma Uno successfully landed three quadruple jumps during Saturday night's free skate, including one in combination, to win the men's title at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships.
Uno was in fifth place after the short program and was the first skater in the final group. The 2018 Olympic silver medalist scored a 197.36, which is the highest score in a long program in an international competition this season, and posted a total of 289.12 points. Uno said earlier this week that he had reinjured his right ankle after winning Japan's national championship in December.
China's Boyang Jin finished second in the free skate with 181.34 points and trailed Uno by nearly 16 points in the final standings with 273.51 points.
American Vincent Zhou led after the short program and had some technical errors during his free skate. He was fifth in the long program but still got a podium spot by placing third overall with 272.22 points.
NASCAR-DAYTONA 500-INSPECTION FAILURES
NASCAR tosses car chiefs for 3 drivers before Daytona 500
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — NASCAR has ejected the car chiefs for Chase Elliott, Ty Dillon and Austin Dillon through the Daytona 500 for repeated inspection failures before qualifying for the race.
The drivers also were docked 15 minutes from the final Cup practice before next Sunday's race. NASCAR has cracked down this season on inspection failures and will disqualify race-winning cars that break the rules.
Greg Ebert for Austin Dillon, Billy Plourde for Ty Dillon and Josh Kirk for Elliott will not be allowed to return to the garage until the next race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 last season for Richard Childress Racing. Elliott, NASCAR's most popular driver, drives for Hendrick Motorsports and Dillon races for Germain Racing.
