Alpine skiing-Johnson fastest, Vonn third in interrupted final training

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy, Feb 7 : World champion Breezy Johnson led a weather-interrupted final training for the women's Olympic downhill on Friday but injured U.S. teammate and comeback queen Lindsey Vonn was again the talk of the slopes with the third fastest time.

Johnson set the pace with a time of one minute 37.91 seconds with Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann 0.21 slower and Vonn 0.37 off the pace.

Vonn was the 15th starter, her left knee in a brace under the race suit, and the session was then halted by low cloud and falling snow after 23 of the 43 skiers on the list had gone down the Olimpia delle Tofane piste.

The skiers from bib 24 onwards were recorded as non-starters.

Vonn, the 41-year-old 2010 Olympic champion who has vowed to race on Sunday despite rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in Switzerland last week, did not speak to reporters other than replying 'good' when asked how the run had felt.

Her coach Aksel Lund Svindal, a double Olympic gold medallist, was again left to pick up the slack.

"I hope you will talk to someone else tomorrow and I think you will," he said smiling, after patiently working his way along the lines of television cameras and then facing the print media for another barrage of questions at the finish area.

VONN COULD MEDAL

The Norwegian said he had seen nothing to change his opinion that Vonn could win a medal, although Friday's anxiety at her first training run down the mountain had morphed into more of a nervous tingle of expectation for Sunday's race.

"It was important to get on the snow today, because it's a very different run," he said.

"She did pretty good ... when she came down she talked about skiing and was calm and didn't talk about the knee at all. I figured that's a good