VAL D'ISERE, France — Lindsey Vonn of the United States fell after deciding to compete in the slalom despite cutting her thumb on a broken champagne bottle, and Maria Riesch of Germany went on to win at the world championships today.

Vonn landed on her side and held up her injured thumb to avoid crashing on it.

"It's OK," she said. "It was hurting and then I crashed, so now it's hurting even more."

Riesch timed 1 minute, 51.80 seconds over two runs down the steep Face de Bellevarde course. Defending champion Sarka Zahrobska of the Czech Republic finished second, 0.77 seconds behind. Tanja Poutiainen of Finland was third.

Vonn was among the top three skiers from the opening run who did not finish. She used a specially designed splint on her hand and was second after the opening run. But with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in the stands, the American fell, crashed through a gate and slid about 70 yards.

She got up and skied to the finish line, and was among the first to congratulate her good friend Riesch.

"I was trying to keep my hand close to me but I also was sliding backwards really fast, so I don't really know exactly what happened," Vonn said.

Vonn had won two golds at worlds. She cut her thumb while celebrating a victory in the downhill on Monday, and needed surgery to repair a severed tendon. On Saturday, it looked like Vonn had a silver boxing glove on her hand, which she used to knock poles out of the way.

"I had to hit the gate differently on my pole so that it doesn't hurt my hand as much," Vonn said after the first run. "I'm skiing about 90 percent of what I can do. It's just a little bit awkward. My right hand probably weighs like 2 pounds more because of all the duct tape I have on it."

Vonn also won the super-G that opened the championships and was aiming for her third gold medal.

"She's fine. It was a bit of a bang, but we think it's OK," U.S. Ski Team doctor Terry Orr said. "She's a very gutsy girl."

Returning from a 13-month injury layoff, Resi Stiegler of the United States finished 19th.

Manuela Moelgg, Vonn and Sandrine Aubert were the top three skiers who did not finish the second run.

"I know the top three went out, but I still had a good run," Riesch said. "You've got to make it down."

Moelgg was on pace for victory when she straddled a gate within sight of the finish line. Aubert hiked back up and finished nearly 50 seconds behind.

Riesch has won 10 World Cup races in her career but this was her first medal at a major championship. She crashed in downhill training last week and finished fourth in super-combi.

"I've had a rough championships," Riesch said. "I had to wait to the last day for a medal."

Riesch won four consecutive slaloms earlier this season and holds a 580-440 lead over Vonn in the World Cup event standings. This was her first medal at a major championship.

Italians Denise Karbon and Nicole Gius finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

Anja Paerson, who won the first gold of her stellar career in slalom at St. Anton in 2001, moved up from 20th after the first run to finish ninth.