Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn, 40, shines in first World Cup downhill in six years after shock retirement U-turn

LEGENDARY skiing champion Lindsey Vonn has made a triumphant instrumentality to downhill enactment aged 40.

The erstwhile Winter Olympic golden medalist finished sixth successful her archetypal World Cup downhill lawsuit since 2019 connected Saturday.

Vonn underwent partial close genu replacement country past April.

She returned to grooming implicit the autumn and U-turned connected her status successful October.

Vonn finished 58 hundredths of a 2nd down victor Italian Federica Brignone astatine Saturday's lawsuit successful St Anton, Austria.

She is present the oldest pistillate connected grounds to decorativeness successful the apical 30 of a World Cup.

A delighted Vonn said: "I loved being backmost astatine the start.

"I consciousness a small spot much assured and comfy successful downhill than I bash successful Super-G.

"I cognize this elevation truly well, truthful I knew the challenges that it had contiguous and with the snowfall conditions, wherever you had to execute.

"I inactive made a mates of mistakes, I cognize I tin beryllium faster, but I deliberation for the archetypal Downhill contention successful six years it was a beauteous bully start."

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Vonn has antecedently won 4 World Cup championships and initially hung up her skis successful 2019.

Speaking to NBC anterior to her comeback, the 40-year-old is assured she tin inactive premix it with the precise best.

Vonn said: "I’ve tried to support everything successful position and not acceptable goals excessively high.

"But ultimately, if I tin marque it to Cortina, that would beryllium my goal.

"To beryllium capable to skis without pain, it’s a wholly caller satellite for me.

“I haven’t felt this bully successful 15 years.

"While I americium precise excited to beryllium participating, I decidedly person goals and expectations.

"I’m trying to beryllium arsenic diligent arsenic imaginable with myself connected this travel and instrumentality it measurement by measurement and not skip immoderate steps.

"I cognize my mode backmost to a competitory level mightiness instrumentality a contention oregon two.

"But I surely mean connected getting backmost to wherever I was before."