Six years later it’s “Wow, Lindsey, wow!”
The racecourse commentator broadcasting Lindsey Vonn’s first World Cup downhill race since 2019 – the American is age 40 and has a titanium knee – summed up how spectacular the ski nice’s efficiency was.
Vonn skied into a formidable sixth place, sporting an unfamiliar low-ranked bib No 32, in what she helped guarantee was a race for the ages within the sun-soaked Austrian resort St Anton.
America star – the best downhill racer in ladies’s World Cup historical past – was quickest within the first a part of the course touching 124kph (77mph) and completed 0.58sec behind race chief Federica Brignone of Italy.
Vonn raised each arms within the air and flashed an enormous smile when she crossed the end line and noticed her time was fifth-fastest.
“That was enjoyable,” Vonn informed broadcaster Eurosport. “I nonetheless made a few errors, I do know I could be quicker.
“I haven’t began outdoors the highest 30 since I used to be most likely 17 years outdated. All issues thought-about it was an amazing begin,” she mentioned.
Stunningly, Vonn was pushed all the way down to sixth when World Cup downhill debutant Malorie Blanc sporting bib No 46 raced into second place.
The 21-year-old Swiss prospect – who was not born when Vonn began her World Cup profession – completed simply 0.07 seconds behind Brignone.
“I used to be somewhat bit happier with fifth place than sixth place,” Vonn quipped.
It was the second race of this sudden new chapter of Vonn’s storied profession with a titanium knee she acquired in surgical procedure final 12 months.
She had been 14th in a super-G three weeks in the past at St Moritz, Switzerland.
“I really feel somewhat bit extra assured and comfy in downhill than I do in super-G. And I do know this hill rather well,” mentioned Vonn, who gained at St Anton in 2007.
Vonn gained a report 43 downhills in her 82-win World Cup profession. Her earlier World Cup downhill had been in January 2019, putting ninth at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. A number of weeks later, she took bronze within the 2019 world championships at Are, Sweden, earlier than retiring.
Vonn skied Saturday in image postcard situations, on a nonetheless and sunny day with minus-8C (18F) temperatures. The Karl Schranz course was shortened to 1.9km (1.2 miles) due to heavy snowfalls after Thursday’s coaching run.
She is scheduled to begin in a super-G on Sunday earlier than shifting on subsequent week to Cortina, the signature ladies’s pace course the place she has 12 profession World Cup wins. The hill additionally will stage ladies’s races on the 2026 Olympics.
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