Vonn ready for return to racing
It’s been a snowy 48 hours in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, forcing the cancellation of the two scheduled downhill training runs for the ladies and allowing everyone a little time to powder ski. The one training run will now be held at 9:15 am CET before the 11:15 am CET race on Saturday, and American Lindsey Vonn is preparing to make her 2017 debut on the World Cup.
The winningest female ski racer of all time has been rehabbing for the last nine weeks after fracturing her arm in a training crash at Copper Mountain, Colo. and has not competed since last February when she fractured her tibial plateau. While Vonn is feeling strong, she comes into these first races fully aware of the risk she brings with her.
“For the rest of my career, there will definitely be a large risk of doing more damage to my arm,” Vonn explained. “The plate is stable, but above and below the plate, my arm is susceptible to another fracture. Having a plate already in there, it becomes a very complicated surgery if I were to do that.”
Vonn is taking extra precautions with her gear.
“I have double, triple the amount of padding I normally have,” Vonn said. “Normally, in downhill, I don’t race with any padding on at all, so it’s definitely not going to be aerodynamic, but at least I’ll be protected somewhat.”
Vonn believes that the downhill title is still within reach for her, and plans to race as much as possible before World Championships in St. Moritz next month. She will kick things off wearing bib 7 on Saturday.
Also making a long-awaited return is her teammate, Julia Mancuso, who has been out for over a year after opting for hip surgery to relieve a long-time issue. The Olympic gold medalist’s participation in Saturday’s race is still up in the air, but she is on the start list for the training run with bib 22.