Vonn and new skis ready to race

Lindsey Vonn took a few minutes during a break from training in Portillo, Chile, on Friday afternoon to join a media teleconference in Chicago.

Though she was feeling a little under the weather, Vonn said the U.S. speed camp in Portillo was going well and she was skiing fast on her new Head skis.

“Training in Chile has been amazing,” she said. “It was snowing like crazy when we got here, but since then it’s been beautiful. I’m really happy with how the skis are performing. I’m skiing great.”

Vonn said her parting from Rossignol – her previous ski and boot company – was a mutual decision.

“I don’t think it’s going to be a difficult transition at all,” she said. “I’m in a great position for the season and the Olympics. It’s definitely a great decision.”

Vonn answered several questions about the Olympics and said that her only aim is to give the Games her best effort, which is all she ever does.

“The Olympics mean more to me than anything else at the moment,” she said. “It’s not just important to be physically healthy but mentally ready. All I can do is do my best.”

When asked if she has bad memories of the 2006 Games, when she sustained injuries after a horrific downhill training crash but still went on to compete, taking seventh in super G and eighth in downhill, Vonn said more than anything it was a learning experience.

“As disappointing as the Torino Olympics were, I learned a lot about myself, so I don’t look at it as a bad experience,” she said. “I realized how important skiing is in my life. My work ethic has gotten even better. I go 100 percent now. It’s given me more motivation. I’m ready for the next Olympics. I’m ready to have a good experience there as well.”

Since wrapping up last season with her second overall and downhill World Cup globes as well as the super G globev, Vonn took a short vacation in Mexico and attended Wimbledon where she met her hero Roger Federer but has mainly spent the last few months doing six to eight hours a day of dry land training.

The women’s alpine World Cup kicks off Oct. 24 with a giant slalom in Solden, Austria, then moves to Aspen, Colo., with more GS and slalom Nov. 28 and 29.

Vonn will continue speed training in Portillo until Sept. 20 as the U.S. women’s tech specialists move to Valle Nevado, Chile through Sept. 26.