'A second chance' - legend Vonn exceeds own comeback expectations

Lindsey Vonn says she has amazed herself with however good her comeback has gone since returning to skis racing - aft being forced to discontinue done wounded astir six years ago.

The 40-year-old retired successful February 2019 with genu problems pursuing a glittering vocation that included Olympic and World Championship golds and 82 World Cup wins.

But aft having a titanium genu replacement and being capable to skis pain-free again, Vonn decided to springiness racing different go.

The American finished 14th successful her archetypal World Cup contention backmost successful December, and came 4th and sixth past play successful super-G and downhill races successful St Anton, Austria.

In an interrogation with the BBC's Ski Sunday, Vonn said: "I didn't expect thing that has happened this year.

"Even erstwhile I said I was going to contention again, I didn't adjacent expect to contention successful St Anton, due to the fact that I thought determination would beryllium nary mode I'd beryllium acceptable to contention there. It's specified a challenging hill.

"I've decidedly acold exceeded my expectations by a agelong shot."

Her instrumentality has not been met with cosmopolitan approval, with erstwhile racers Bernhard Russi and Michaela Dorfmeister criticising her decision, calling it anserine and dangerous.

Vonn added: "I don't cognize wherefore my comeback was specified a large problem.

"I'm not hurting anyone doing what I'm doing. I deliberation my reply was beauteous wide past weekend.

"There was 1 apology, publicly, connected a podcast. But my telephone didn't ringing and I don't judge thing different than a telephone telephone due to the fact that what they said astir maine is wholly unacceptable and disrespectful."

After quitting the sport, Vonn focused connected her instauration and concern arsenic good arsenic learning to flyboard, wakeboard and play tennis.

But, inactive experiencing pain, she made a determination to person the cognition connected her close knee.

"I was doing much therapy successful status than I was erstwhile I was racing," Vonn explained.

"I did it for my ain longevity, for my ain wellbeing. That was my information – to beryllium pain-free and to unrecorded the beingness I tried to physique for myself."

The country went good and Vonn was loving her life, but thing was missing. It was the buzz of skiing accelerated again.

"Life arsenic a skis racer is beauteous simple," she said. "You enactment hard, you bash the close thing, and erstwhile you're successful the commencement gross you conscionable privation to spell fast. I missed that."

Vonn asked her surgeon however acold she could propulsion her genu and to what level could she contemplate competing again.

"He told maine it was up to me," Vonn said. "He said if it doesn't wounded and it feels good, the titanium genu is not going anywhere.

"There's different hazard factors, obviously. I person different ligaments, it's similar a mean knee. "Things tin spell wrong, but the titanium genu constituent is indestructible."

Vonn competes successful Cortina successful Italy connected Saturday and Sunday and it is simply a elevation she knows precise well, having won 12 World Cup races determination - the past successful 2018.

She crashed during grooming connected Thursday but brushed disconnected immoderate wounded concerns.

"I'm truly excited to beryllium backmost here," Vonn said.

"I've been watching videos of the past races. They person been truthful meaningful to my life. It means a batch to me. I'm conscionable retired here, having fun."

The people tantalisingly besides plays big to the women's races astatine the 2026 Winter Olympics which are lone a twelvemonth away.

Vonn is not looking excessively acold up for what would beryllium a 5th Winter Games and astir a 4th of a period since her archetypal successful 2002.

"I don't deliberation this weekend's results mean thing for the adjacent Olympics," she said.

"It [Olympics] depends connected whether I tin enactment healthy, fig retired my equipment, tin I support this level of skiing for different year? I don't cognize the reply to those questions.

"I'm going to bask this play arsenic if it's the past clip I skis present and we'll spot what each time brings."

If Vonn were capable to grounds a World Cup win, she would comfortably go the oldest antheral oregon pistillate to bash so.

"My caller genu has fixed maine a 2nd chance. Life is abbreviated truthful I'm going to instrumentality it," she added.