Vonn in Second Place at World Cup Training
Lindsey Vonn is clearly recovering from last February's knee injury since she had the second-fastest run in the World Cup downhill training this week.
The Olympic skier has been recovering after reconstructive surgery and rehab which followed a violent ski crash caused two torn ligaments in her right knee at the world championships in Schladming.
While the injury kept Vonn from competitions over the past year, the professional Alpine skier is making a comeback and increasing her pace at the World Cup training on Thursday, according to USA Today.
The American athlete finished just 0.04 seconds behind Thursday's first-place skier, Switzerland's Dominique Gisin, who finished in one minute, 49.07 seconds on the Oreiller-Killy course in Val d'Isere, France.
Third place during Thursday's training run went to the World Cup defending champion Tina Maze who clocked in 0.16 seconds behind Vonn.
Vonn is a four-time overall World Cup champion who also won a gold medal in downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics.
The 29-year-old athlete officially returned to racing earlier this month- a full 10 months after her knee injury.
Although Vonn is now fully recovered, the skier was disappointed to have to refuse the Soelden race this year.
"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," she explained via Facebook in October. "The Soelden race is not in the cards this year. 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."
Nevertheless, Vonn is maintaining focus on defending her downhill title at the Sochi Winter Olympics this coming February.
The Sochi Winter Olympics take place on Feb. 7 to the 23rd in Sochi, Russia.
