The next step in Lindsey Vonn‘s recovery is one flight and a few days away.
The Olympic downhill champion has been cleared to ski on snow six months after reconstructive surgery on her right knee following tearing an ACL in a crash at the World Alpine Skiing Championships in February. She will fly to Portillo, Chile, for a training camp Friday. She previously said she planned to return to snow on Sept. 1, which is Sunday.
Vonn said her right knee is nearly at full strength compared to her left knee, 98 percent to be exact, and hasn’t needed to ice the knee after a workout in a month and a half, according to reports of those who saw Vonn working out in Vail, Colo., on Wednesday. The Denver Post has a write up here.Vonn probably will start with free skiing in Portillo, but she is hoping to run some gates during her two-week stay. She will have to “negotiate” that with Dr. Bill Sterett, who performed her surgery in February.
“I asked him to come down,” Vonn said. “So he’s coming down, and will monitor me. I’m hoping to start training in a couple of days, but my expectations are sometimes a little out of whack.”
She also repeated she expects to start her season at the World Cup stop in nearby Beaver Creek, Colo., which takes place Nov. 29-Dec. 1. It’s the third stop on the World Cup tour, which begins Oct. 26 in Solden, Austria.
Vonn, 28, will be one of the early stars of the Olympics. Her best events come in the first full week of competition. The opening ceremony is Friday, Feb. 7. Vonn, if healthy, would be expected to race at least the super combined (Feb. 10), downhill (Feb. 12) and super-G (Feb. 15).
As the Games go on, the focus shifts from speed events to technical events. Vonn, best known for her speed prowess, will pass the proverbial torch to her teammates. Julia Mancuso, also a medal contender in the speed events, won the 2006 Olympic title in the giant slalom, which goes Feb. 18. Mikaela Shiffrin, 18, is the world champion in the slalom, which takes place Feb. 21.
Included in all of those events may be the woman who took the mantle of world’s greatest all-around skier from Vonn this past season -- Slovenia’s Tina Maze.
