Italy edges Switzerland to win team parallel event at skiing worlds; US finishes 4th

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria — Italy beat Switzerland to win the mixed team parallel event that opened the Alpine skiing world championships on Tuesday.

Thomas Tumler was slow out of the gate in the decisive heat of the final and couldn't catch up to Italy's Alex Vinatzer. The final ended 2-2 and Italy won with an advantage of 0.45 seconds in total time.

It could be the start of a big championships for Italy, which has Federica Brignone and Sofia Goggia in top form and among the favorites in multiple events.

''It's a good start because we invest a lot,'' Italian team leader Max Carca said. ''We have a lot of expectations from the girls side.''

The defending champion United States lost a chance for a medal when Isaiah Nelson lost control toward the end of the fourth and decisive run of the bronze-medal race — handing the medal to Sweden and leaving the Americans in fourth.

Host Austria, which had a first-round bye, was eliminated immediately by Sweden.

In the final, Giorgia Collomb beat Wendy Holdener before Luca Aerni equalized for Switzerland by beating Filippo Della Vite. Then Delphine Darbellay put Switzerland ahead when Lara Della Mea made a series of errors. But Vinatzer, who recently finished second in a World Cup slalom in Kitzbuehel, secured the title.

The women's super-G featuring Brignone, Goggia and Lindsey Vonn on Thursday is the first individual event of the championships.

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing