Sports briefs

Vonn closing in on Cup repeat Lindsey Vonn gets her chance today to become the first American woman to capture two World Cup overall titles. She enters the downhill in this week's season finals in Are, Sweden, leading Maria Riesch by 369 points with four races left and 400 points at stake. She needs to finish sixth or better -- or ahead of Riesch -- to capture her second consecutive overall crown.

Tamara McKinney was the only previous U.S. woman to take the overall, in 1983. Vonn has surpassed McKinney's World Cup victory total and now holds the women's U.S. record with 20.

Two years ago, Vonn left Are with silver medals in the downhill and super-G at the worlds. In last month's worlds, she upgraded them with two gold medals in the same disciplines.

Vonn already has clinched the downhill title for the second year in a row, and has a chance Thursday to win the super-G championship, trailing Fabienne Suter of Switzerland by 15 points. Riesch, the world champion, clinched the slalom championship Saturday in Germany. In the giant slalom, Kathrin Zettel of Austria leads Tanja Poutiainen of Finland by 41 points.

On the men's side, eight points separate the top three skiers. Ivica Kostelic of Croatia and 2006 overall champion Benjamin Raich of Austria are tied for the lead with 837 points. Aksel Lund Svindal of Norway, the 2007 overall champion, is eight points behind in third.

• Takanobu Okabe, 38, of Japan won his first World Cup ski jump event in 11 years, in Kuopio, Japan. It was his fifth career victory and first since March 1, 1998.

Harvard winger is back as Kazmaier finalist Harvard forward Sarah Vaillancourt has a chance to become a two-time winner of the Patty Kazmaier Award, presented to the top female player in NCAA Division I hockey.

Runaway tire leads to four-race suspension for crewman The crew member who chased a tire across pit road, forcing NASCAR to throw a race-changing caution at Atlanta Motor Speedway, was suspended four races.

Jimmy Watts, the gas man for Marcos Ambrose's crew, was also placed on probation through the end of the year. Frank Kerr, crew chief for the No. 47 Toyota, was also placed on probation because NASCAR deemed him accountable.

Watts chased a rolling tire across pit road and into the infield grass when it got away from Ambrose's stall during a round of stops 67 laps into Sunday's race. NACAR called a caution, and the action put more than half the field at least one lap down.

College football: A statue of former Syracuse running back Ernie Davis is back on campus, five months after it was removed to correct historical inaccuracies. The original, unveiled in September, mistakenly showed Davis in Nike cleats and carrying a modern football and helmet.

Cycling: Sylvain Chavanel of France won the 111-mile third stage of the Paris-Nice race and claimed the yellow jersey from Alberto Contador.

Soccer: D.C. United acquired goalkeeper Josh Wicks from the Los Angeles Galaxy for a conditional 2010 draft pick.

Gymnastics: Former Illinois men's coach Jon Valdez pleaded guilty in Urbana, Ill., to videotaping a gymnast in a campus locker room. Valdez, who also coached Beijing Olympian Justin Spring, was sentenced to two years' probation plus community service.