Lindsey Vonn felt 'awesome' after resuming ski training free of pain on Thursday, 10 weeks after fracturing a bone in her left ankle and just two days before the new World Cup season starts. The four-time overall champion made eight practice runs on a glacier, without her ankle showing any reaction.
'I didn't feel anything. It didn't hurt and it wasn't swollen afterward,' the American told The Associated Press. 'A lot better than I expected, honestly.' Vonn crashed during a training camp in New Zealand in August, suffering yet another setback after an impressive return from serious knee injuries last season.
Despite the 10-week layoff, Vonn still hasn't ruled out a start in Saturday's giant slalom on the Rettenbach glacier. She will train again on Friday before taking a final decision. 'I am going to push myself hard. I really want to make sure there is no pain. I want to make sure it's not swollen after the training,' Vonn said.
Fenninger's and Maze's absence and the retirement of Austria's Nicole Hosp have left Vonn the only skier on the women's circuit to have won the overall title before. If the American, who turned 31 on Sunday, manages to win her fifth crystal globe, she will become the oldest female skier to win that trophy, breaking Vreni Schneider's 20-year-old record.
'Injuries are not a mental problem for me,' Vonn said. 'If I have any physical pain, then that's what slows me down. Falling, crashing, injuring, it never bothers me. It's part of the game.'
