ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — The queen of skiing is back.
Lindsey Vonn took a stunning, fast World Cup downhill win on Friday to claim her first victory in nearly eight years – and the first of her comeback from titanium implants in the right knee after five years of retirement.
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The 41-year-old US skier took the lead, beating Mirjam Puchner of Austria by a staggering 1.16 seconds. What was even wilder was that Vonn was 0.61 behind after the first two time checks.
Vonn's lead was later cut to 0.98 (still a huge lead in the downhill) when surprise Magdalena Egger took second behind teammate Puchner.
“It was an amazing day, I’m very happy and very emotional,” Vonn told Swiss broadcaster RTS. “I felt good this summer, but I wasn’t sure how fast I was. I think now I know how fast I am.”
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It was the perfect start to her Olympic season as she took her first win since the downhill in March 2018 in Are, Sweden.
Vonn's stunning debut with new coach Aksel Lund Svindal, the men's downhill great who won the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, suggests their star partnership is paying off.
Her Friday run looked routine when she missed Puchner's time by tenths of a second on the top half of the sun-drenched Corviglia circuit, where the finish is more than 2,000 meters (6,500 feet) high.
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Vonn was then fastest during the following speed checks, reaching 119 km/h (74 mph), and posted the fastest time in the bottom half.
She passed the finish area and came across an inflatable safety barrier, laying down in the snow and raising her hands to check the time.
Vonn stood up, punched the air with her right fist and screamed in joy before placing her hands on her left cheek in a sleeping gesture.
The 2010 Olympic champion is hoping for another gold medal at the Cortina Winter Games in Milan in February. Women's alpine skiing takes place on the legendary Cortina d'Ampezzo circuit in the Dolomites, which Vonn mastered during her career.
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“Obviously my target is Cortina, but if we start like this I think I'm in a good position,” said Vonn, who will be favorite for another downhill win on Saturday in St Moritz.
Friday's race was Vonn's 125th World Cup downhill start in her storied career, 24 years after her first start in Lake Louise, Canada.
She has won a record 44 of them so far, including St Moritz in 2012, and has 83 race wins across all World Cup disciplines.
Her previous win in Aare came weeks after Vonn won bronze in the downhill at the PyeongChang Winter Games in South Korea, the last time she competed at the Olympics.
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She also won gold in the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and the 2009 World Championships in Val d'Isere, France.
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Associated Press
