(Reuters) – Lindsey Vonn, who next week will make her highly-anticipated return to the World Cup circuit, said on Saturday she hopes her comeback gets her to the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.
Vonn tested out the Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek, Colorado as a forerunner ahead of the first ever women’s World Cup downhill event on the formidable track and later stated the goal behind her decision to return to racing.
“I’ve tried to keep everything in perspective and not set goals too high but ultimately, if I can make it to Cortina, that would be my goal,” said Vonn, who has 82 World Cup wins and counts one gold among her three Olympic medals.
The 40-year-old American had retired in February 2019 citing the physical toll the sport had taken on her body but, following partial knee replacement surgery in April, announced last month she was making a comeback.
Vonn raced last weekend in the lower-level FIS Fall Festival and next week in St Moritz, Switzerland she will return to the World Cup circuit for the first time in nearly six years.
“I have no pain and no swelling and I just started down this adventure and I thought let’s give it a try,” Vonn said when asked why she decided to return to the sport.
“And here I am, only a few months later, forerunning my first World Cup and it feels so amazing to be back.
“I can’t tell you how big of a difference it makes to be able to ski without pain, it’s a completely new world for me and I haven’t felt this good in 15 years so I’m excited to be back.”
At Beaver Creek, Vonn looked comfortable on the Birds of Prey track but how she fared against the rest of the skiers was unknown as only competitors have official times.
“It’s not a race for me so I’m leaving a bit in the tank but I was still testing equipment and I wanted to definitely try harder than in training runs,” said Vonn. “I think it was a solid run.”
(Reporting by Frank Pingue in Toronto; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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