BEAVER CREEK, Colorado (AP) Lindsey Vonn squeezed in a little freeskiing on Thanksgiving morning, a step in the right direction for a return to racing after reinjuring her right knee in a recent training crash.
The reigning Olympic downhill champion posted on her Facebook page Thursday: "First day back on snow since my crash and it was awesome!" She also attached a picture of herself grinning on an empty slope in Vail.
Although she's skipping the races in Beaver Creek this weekend, the 29-year-old Vonn hasn't ruled out a return to competition in Lake Louise, Alberta, next week. Good friend and rival Maria Hoefl-Riesch of Germany told The Associated Press on Thursday after a downhill training run that the two are planning to travel together to Lake Louise on Monday.
"She's really positive," said Hoefl-Riesch, who spent some time with Vonn earlier in the week. "I'm looking forward to seeing her back on skis and finally back racing.
"If she feels well and has no pain and no unstable feeling, I think she's strong enough in her head to ski 100 percent."