Vonn off has 'butterflies of excitement' for 1st WC race in nearly 6 years

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. (AP) — Lindsey Vonn flew down the Birds of Prey course one last time as a forerunner Sunday before flying off to Switzerland.

Next up, her first World Cup race in nearly six years as the 40-year-old makes her return to ski racing. She will take part in a pair of super-G races in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

“I have the butterflies of excitement — and that’s fun. I love that feeling,” Vonn said Sunday after trying out the course before the race. “I like being in the start. I love the countdown. I (freaking) get amped up. I like having to execute when you have to and everything’s on the line.”

Vonn didn’t have the necessary points at the time to participate in the World Cup races in Beaver Creek over the weekend. Instead, she tested out the Birds of Prey downhill course Saturday and the super-G track Sunday before the racers to make sure everything was running smoothly. She then got on the radio and delivered a scouting report — where to push, where to tuck, where to take it easy — to her teammates.

Her intel on the hill extended to good friend and fellow Red Bull sponsor Sofia Goggia, who used Vonn's report to find the fastest line in winning t he super-G on Sunday. The Italian racer and Vonn shared a moment after Goggia came down in first.

“I love her. For me, she’s a really important person,” Goggia said of Vonn. ’She’s so kind. We shared a lot of races. I’m excited for her to be on the World Cup.”

Ditto for her teammates: “She has so much knowledge,” said Lauren Macuga, who was 12th in the super-G after taking fourth in the downhill. “It elevates our whole team a lot.”

Vonn didn't go full speed on either day — about 85% on Saturday before cranking it up a bit to 90% on Sunday.

“Because obviously I’m racing super-G next weekend, so I needed to be a little bit more with it,” Vonn said. “I'd say it was a great day.”

Next weekend will be her first World Cup race since a “DNF” — didn't not finish — in a super-G at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on Jan. 20, 2019. Her last major race was a month later, when she took third in the downhill during the world championships in Sweden.

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, whose 99 wins are more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport.

An array of injuries, including to her knee, sent Vonn into retirement. But a partial knee replacement last April has her feeling good enough again to speed down the hill.

“The last two years of my career, I was in survival mode,” Vonn said. “I’m stronger. I don’t think about my knee. I think about how I’m going to execute the race."

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing