Lindsey Vonn will test out the downhill and super-G courses as a forerunner before the World Cup races this weekend in Beaver Creek, Colorado.
The U.S. Ski Team confirmed her role Tuesday. A forerunner goes before the field to make sure the course is running smoothly and the timing system is properly working. There’s a downhill race slated for Saturday on the demanding Birds of Prey course and a super-G on Sunday. She's also scheduled to forerun on all three training days, too, starting Wednesday.
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The 40-year-old Vonn is on the comeback trail nearly six years since her last major race. She successfully competed in a series of lower-level downhill and super-G competitions last weekend in Copper Mountain to gain enough points to be eligible for World Cup events. Vonn didn't earn a spot in time for this weekend's races in Beaver Creek and hasn't announced a timeline for her return to the World Cup scene.
Vonn’s last major competition was in February 2019, when she took third in the downhill during the world championships in Sweden. An assortment of injuries, including to her knee, sent her into retirement.
After a partial knee replacement last April, Vonn continues to feel stronger on the slopes as she dials in her ski equipment and gets used to high rates of speed again.
“Life is really short, and I don’t know what’s going to happen tomorrow," Vonn said in an interview with The Associated Press last weekend on why she decided to return. “But I know what I’m going to do today — I’m going to have fun.”
When Vonn left the tour, she had 82 World Cup wins — the record for a woman at the time and within reach of the all-time Alpine mark of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s record held by Vonn was eclipsed in January 2023 by Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has 99 wins — more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport.
Shiffrin is currently recovering from a crash in a giant slalom event in Killington, Vermont, on Nov. 30. Shiffrin sustained muscle trauma and an abdominal puncture wound but no ligament or bone damage. She won’t take part in the Beaver Creek races.
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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing