Vail’s Lindsey Vonn returned to World Cup racing Sunday after an 11-month absence because of injuries to her left knee and right arm, finishing 13th in a downhill at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria.
“I felt like I was skiing pretty well, just maybe not quite on the limit yet,” Vonn told reporters in the finish area. “But I am happy. For me, itap not really a matter of the results, just happy to be racing again. Of course I have higher expectations of myself, but considering the conditions and the fact that we had a training run and a race in the same day, I think it was pretty good.”
Weather forced cancellation of official downhill training runs in previous days. Because of the high speeds associated with downhill, a race cannot be held without a training run. A training run was held in the morning before the race went off at midday.
“I’m in great shape, so I felt really good physically,” Vonn said. “It was just difficult with the conditions. I had a hard time pushing the limit with the flat light and with the bumps. But all things considered I think it was a really good result, solid. Skiing fast makes me smile, and thatap all that matters.”
EagleVail’s Mikaela Shiffrin, who leads the World Cup overall standings, did not race. Switzerland’s Lara Gut, Shiffrin’s closest pursuer in the overall chase, finished fourth to pick up 50 points in the standings.
Women’s World Cup overall standings
(after 20 of 36 races)
Mikaela Shiffrin, EagleVail, 1,008 points
Lara Gut, Switzerland, 693
Ilka Stuhec, Slovenia, 584
Tessa Worley, France, 563
Sofia Goggia, Italy, 560
