Vonn skis Olympia delle Tofane with knee brace
A week after rupturing the ACL in her left knee from a crash, American Lindsay Vonn was all smiles after putting in a successful training run, ahead of Sunday’s Olympic women’s downhill gold medal race.
Earlier today, U.S. skier Lindsay Vonn was back on the slopes a week after rupturing the ACL in her left knee in Switzerland.
The 41-year-old alpine ski racer came out of retirement to chase Olympic gold at the Milano-Cortina Games and isn’t letting that injury hold her back.
Vonn had a successful training run down the Olympia delle Tofane course, wearing a large brace covering her knee, and placed 11th as skiers got their first official turns on the course ahead of the big race in Cortina.
“She was smart. She didn’t go all in,” Aksel Lund Svindal, a former Olympic downhill champion from Norway and now one of Vonn’s personal coaches, told The Associated Press. “She made a mistake on the bottom, but the rest looked like just good skiing, but no big risk.”
“Nothing makes me happier! No one would have believed I would be here,” Vonn wrote on social media before her run. “But I made it!! I’m here, I’m smiling and no matter what, I know how lucky I am. I’m not going to waste this chance. Let’s go get it!!”
Vonn finished 1.39 seconds behind American teammate Jacqueline Wiles, who posted the fastest time and is also a medal threat, with two career podium results in Cortina.