Georgia Simmerling is not part of Canada's Olympic ski team.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland -- Canadian skier Georgia Simmerling crashed in the opening super-G portion of a World Cup super-combined event Friday, while teammate Shona Rubens finished a career-best 10th.

Simmerling, a 20-year-old from West Vancouver, was airlifted to a hospital with facial bruises, but Alpine Canada officials said she was not believed to have suffered a concussion.

Simmerling is not part of Canada's Olympic ski team, which already has lost five members to injury this season.

Anja Paerson of Sweden won the race for her first victory of the season, while American Lindsey Vonn finished third to extend her lead in the overall standings.

"Sometimes the hill speaks to you and you know what is happening, where to go and exactly what you want," Paerson said after getting her first win of the season on the Corviglia piste, where she now has four career World Cup victories.

Paerson timed two minutes 00.54 seconds for the combined super-G and slalom runs.

Michaela Kirchgasser of Austria was second Friday, 0.43 behind, and Vonn trailed Paerson by 0.92 after being second fastest in the super-G.

"I'm pretty stoked for sure," said Rubens, whose previous World Cup best was a 15th-place finish. "My super-G was actually not that awesome but I made up for it in the slalom. It lets me know that I am in there in the slalom and I know that I have more to give in the super-G."

Emily Brydon of Fernie, B.C., was 20th.

The 28-year-old Paerson celebrated her 41st World Cup win -- fourth on the all-time list -- with her trademark belly slide in the finish area.

Paerson marked her Olympic slalom gold medal in Turin four years ago the same way. She's scheduled to defend that title when the Vancouver Winter Games open in two weeks.

Vonn collected 60 World Cup points to build a 116-point lead over Germany's Maria Riesch.

The 25-year-old American said her mindset switched when Riesch surprisingly skied out in the super-G.

"That definitely changed my tactics quite a bit in the slalom run," Vonn said. "If (Maria) would have finished and been competitive in the super-G I would have had to risk a lot more. I took it easy and made it down."

Riesch misjudged her line and skied wide left of a gate approaching a tight left hand turn. She stood beside the course with her head bowed over her skis reflecting on her mistake.

Vonn said she also got a boost for the super-combi gold medal race scheduled Feb. 14 on Whistler Mountain.

"It's the first event and now I have that confidence. I'm definitely going to risk a lot more in the Olympics," she said.

Paerson, who won back-to-back overall titles in 2004 and '05, moved up to third in the classifications, trailing two-time defending champion Vonn by 330.

Vonn also leads the super-combi standings by 10 points from Paerson with one race remaining at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, in March.

Paerson was eighth after the super-G with 0.82 to make up on Vonn, but delivered the fastest slalom run.

The first-run standings were overturned as the speed specialists could not match the technical experts in the afternoon.

Morning leader Andrea Fischbacher of Austria finished 12th, while Julia Mancuso of the U.S. dropped from third to 14th after the slalom.

Kirchgasser was runner-up after being 12th in the first leg, while fellow Austrian Elisabeth Goergl placed fourth after trailing in 23rd-fastest in super-G.

Racing was completed on a bright, still day but the super-G run was interrupted when late starter Georgia Simmerling crashed at the same gate Riesch missed earlier.

The 20-year-old Canadian appeared to strike the gate with her left shoulder and face and slid off course into safety nets.

Simmerling was airlifted to a hospital though no details of her injuries were available.

The meet continues with a downhill Saturday and a super-G on Sunday, the final race before the Olympics.