By BBC (Sports) | Created at 2024-12-21 11:57:01 | Updated at 2024-12-21 16:57:18
5 hours ago
Three-time Olympic skiing medallist Lindsey Vonn marked her World Cup return after more than five years away from the sport with an impressive 14th place in the Super G at St Moritz.
The American, 40, retired in February 2019 but announced her competitive comeback in November having had successful knee surgery.
She crossed the finish line in 1:16.36 in Switzerland, 1.18 seconds slower than winner Cornelia Hutter of Austria.
Speaking prior to her comeback, Vonn spoke of her hopes to make the US team for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina.
"Ultimately, if I can make it to Cortina, that would be my goal," she said.
"I was in survival mode the last years of my career.
"Now I'm stronger, I don't think about my knee. I think about how I'm going to execute the race. And that's a totally different mindset than I was in before."
This success comes after the American made her competitive return in Copper Mountain, Colorado, earlier this month, where she finished 24th out of 45 skiers in her first of two downhill races at the FIS Fall Festival, and 27th in her second.
Vonn won Olympic downhill gold at the Winter Games in Vancouver in 2010, where she also took bronze in the Super-G. She claimed another downhill bronze in Pyeongchang in 2018.
She made her World Cup debut aged 16 in 2000 and went on to win 20 World Cup titles (including four overall Crystal Globes) and eight World Championship medals, with 137 World Cup podiums and 82 World Cup victories.
