VAL D'ISERE, France — American skier Lindsey Vonn has won the super-G at the World Championships for her first major gold medal.

Vonn trailed early starter Marie Marchand-Arvier midway down the Rhone-Alpes course but made up time on the Frenchwoman in the technical lower section.

Vonn finished in 1 minute, 20.73 seconds in Tuesday's event. Marchand-Arvier was second, 0.34 seconds behind, and Andrea Fischbacher of Austria was third, 0.40 back.

Vonn won two silvers at the last worlds in Are, Sweden, two years ago but had never won gold at the worlds or the Olympics.

Last season, Vonn became the first American woman to win the overall World Cup title in 25 years — since McKinney in 1983 — and she also leads the overall standings this season.