Vonn is the first American to win the overall crown twice

American skier Lindsey Vonn has retained the overall World Cup crown after victory in the season-ending downhill at Are in Sweden.

Despite foggy conditions, Vonn won in a time of one minute and 42.49 seconds to take an unassailable lead in the standings over Germany's Maria Riesch.

But the men's race for the coveted globe is going down to the wire.

Norway's Aksel Lund Svindal has taken the lead with three races - a super-G, slalom and giant slalom - left.

Meanwhile, Austrian Michael Walchhofer was crowned downhill champion despite not finishing in Sweden and with only one win in the discipline this season.

He had a 75-point lead over team-mate Klaus Kroell going into the final race, with the winner gaining 100 points, but Kroell could only come ninth.

Cuche (left) and Svindal are vying for the overall men's crown

It is the second time Walchhofer, who consistently finished on the downhill podium five times this season, has won the World Cup downhill title.

He said: "My big goal this season was to win the downhill title."

Svindal, who missed most of last season after a serious injury, knows he needs a good showing in Thursday's super-G as his main rival, Benjamin Raich, is a technical specialist and has the slalom and giant slalom to come.

Svindal has 929 points, Raich has 857, Swiss Didier Cuche is on 843 points, with Croatia's Ivica Kostelic on 837 points.

"I have to be fast in these speed events because Raich and Kostelic can pick up points in the slaloms and I can't really this year," said Svindal.

Vonn capped off a remarkable season with her eighth World Cup win.

She is the first American to win two world titles and the trophies will be added to a burgeoning collection that also includes two World Championship golds (downill and super-G) from Val d'Isere in February, and two silvers from the 2007 championships also held in Are.

She said: "It's definitely a great satisfaction to end the season on another downhill win. I'm really pleased to have been able to clinch my second overall title in such a perfect way."

The World Cup finals feature the top 25 ranked racers in the four disciplines and a team event.

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