Lindsey Vonn hopes for a January return to racing

U.S. Ski Team standout Lindsey Vonn is no stranger to injury, however her latest affliction – a humerus fracture in the right arm – is a new challenge. In a recent interview with NBC Sports, she called her Nov. 10 injury “by far the most painful injury” of her career.

At first diagnosis, Vonn was told she had a 10-12 week recovery period, but early progress has left her hopeful that she’ll be back in eight weeks.

“I normally heal pretty well, but you never know, so I’m just kind of hoping for some time in January,” she told Steve Porino.

Vonn will be getting X-rays every two weeks to check on her progress and determine when she can return to snow. Of course, a January return still forces Vonn to miss the upcoming Lake Louise World Cups races, where she had the potential to sweep the series, and add three more wins to her name. The American is on the hunt to beat Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time wins record, and this injury marks another road block. 

“When I’m laying on the ground, I’m thinking, you’ve got to be kidding me,” Vonn told NBC about her crash. “How do I keep doing this? I don’t know. I’ve toned down my training. I’ve tried to limit my risk as much as I can, but unfortunately it’s a high-risk sport.”

But Vonn is not ready to give up. The Speed Queen has a lot to keep her motivated.

“If I didn’t have the records and the Olympics coming up, I might retire,” Vonn said, “but I still have a lot I want to accomplish, and that keeps me going.”