Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn will not make her much-awaited return to the sport at the World Cup ski season-opener that is set to start on Saturday in Austria.
Vonn, who sustained a devastating knee injury during the opening day of the 2013 FIS World Championships in February, originally planned to race on Saturday, but she has decided to delay her return.
The 29-year-old skier, who is currently in a relationship with golf star Tiger Woods, said that she is already feeling well after a long recovery from the ACL and MCL surgery that she underwent, but she pointed out that an additional month of training will be beneficial for her campaign.
"While I physically feel great, I have decided to not race this weekend and instead will focus on returning in Beaver Creek. I am confident the extra month of training will ultimately put me in the best position to have a successful season," Vonn said in an Associated Press report via Fox Sports.
Seven months after her infamous crash in February, Vonn returned to the snow in Chile to test her surgically-repaired knee.
Aiming to compete in the giant slalom race, the four-time overall World Cup winner trained intensively at Soelden, but eventually decided not to put her name on the entry list two days before the start of the event.
"My training camp in Soelden went very well and I made great progress, but I feel that I need more training before I start racing again ... which means the Soelden race is not in the cards this year," Vonn posted on her Facebook account. "Patience is not my strong suit so not racing is very hard for me but it will only make me more excited for the next one."
Vonn will likely make her return on Nov. 29 in the Beaver Creek race with the aim of getting in top shape in time for the Winter Olympics in Sochi in February 2014 to defend her downhill title.
- Contribute to this Story:
- Send us a tip
- Send us a photo or video
- Suggest a correction
