ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — The queen of downhill skiing is well and truly back.
Lindsey Vonn put in a stunning fast run to take a huge lead in a World Cup downhill on Friday and looked set for her first win in nearly eight years — and the first in her comeback with titanium implants in her right knee after a five-year retirement.
The 41-year-old United States ski great seized the lead by an astonishing 1.16 seconds ahead of Mirjam Puchner of Austria. Even wilder was that Vonn trailed by 0.61 after the first two time checks.
Vonn’s lead was later cut to 0.98 — still a massive margin in downhill — when unheralded Magdalena Egger took second place from teammate Puchner.
“It was an amazing day, I couldn’t be happier, pretty emotional,” Vonn told Swiss broadcaster RTS. “I felt good this summer but I wasn’t sure how fast I was. I guess I know now how fast I am.”
The result was unofficial while low-ranked racers were yet to start but Vonn was poised to start the Olympic season with her first victory since a downhill in March 2018 at Are, Sweden.
Vonn’s superb debut to the season suggests her work with new coach Aksel Lund Svindal, a men’s downhill great, during the first phase of her career is paying off.
Her run Friday looked routine when she dropped tenths of seconds to Puchner’s time on the top half of the sunbathed Corviglia course.
Vonn then was faster than anyone through the next speed checks, touching 119 kph (74 mph), and posted the fastest time splits for the bottom half.
She skied through the finish area and bumped against the inflated safety barrier, lay down in the snow and raised her arms on seeing her time.
Vonn got up, punched the air with her right fist and shrieked with joy before putting her hands to her left cheek in a sleeping gesture. Wearing the No. 16 start bib, all the pre-race favorites had completed their runs and her win already looked assured.
The 2010 Olympic champion is targeting another gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February. Women’s Alpine skiing is at the storied Cortina d’Ampezzo course in the Dolomites, which Vonn has mastered in her career.
“Obviously my goal is Cortina but if this is the way we start I think I’m in a good spot,” said Vonn, who will start favored for another downhill Saturday at St. Moritz.
Friday’s race was Vonn’s 125th start in World Cup downhill in her storied career, 24 years after the first at Lake Louise, Canada.
She has now won 44 of them, including at St. Moritz in 2012. Her previous win at Are came weeks after Vonn took bronze in downhill at the Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea, which was the last time she went to an Olympics.
She also won gold in downhill at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, and at the 2009 world championships at Val d’Isere, France.
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