SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria —Stephanie Venier won women’s super-G gold for hosts Austria in the first individual race of the Alpine World Ski Championships.
Italy’s Federica Brignone took silver on a clear and sunny day in Saalbach while Lauren Macuga of the United States and Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff Lie tied for the bronze medal.
US ski great Lindsey Vonn, making a comeback at 40 to compete in her first championships since 2019 but battling a heavy cold, hit a gate hard with her arm and failed to finish after starting 30th.
Vonn competed despite cold- and flu-like symptoms that prompted her to use a nebulizer to try to clear up her sinuses.
“I didn´t make it that far but until I went out I skied well and I had enough energy to be in a solid position,” Vonn said according to AP. “So it is what it is. It´s bad timing, but that´s life.”
It was the third time in the last four races of Vonn’s comeback with a new titanium right knee that she didn’t finish.
So is the American standout considering sitting out at all to improve her health?
Vonn said she’ll be back for the final training session before racing in the downhill on Saturday. After that, she’s scheduled to compete in the new team combined event on Tuesday.
“I didn´t wait six years to be staying in bed because I´m sick. I´m going to be out there and I´m having fun,” Vonn said. “Maybe it´s not the result I wanted but I was in the starting gate and I was enjoying it. I was focused. I had a great time.”
Vonn is scrambling to figure out her new equipment, having returned to the circuit in December after nearly six years of retirement.
She started with the No. 30 bib after all of the favorites and was charging so hard that she cut her line too tight and got caught coming around a right turn.
The gate pressed on her forearm near her pink-colored arm guard, locked her elbow by her side and pushed the whole arm back with pressure on her shoulder. Vonn avoided falling and was able to stop but then grasped her arm.
“I´m OK. I hit my nerve somehow and I hit the gate and lost feeling in my arm but it´s coming back slowly,” Vonn said.
Spectators in the finish area let out a collective gasp of astonishment and grew silent with concern at Vonn´s mishap. But she eventually skied down to the finish and waved to the crowd with her hurt arm.
Vonn had posted the 16th-fastest time at the first check point.
“I just went a little too early into the gate and I hooked my arm,” Vonn said. “But I felt good on the upper section. I tried a different boot today, so I think my timing was a little bit off. I took a gamble. It didn´t pay off. But I´ll do the training run tomorrow. Again, try a different material, and hopefully they´ll be better and I´ll be in a good position for Saturday.”
Vonn said she’s been using a nebulizer “just to try to get some humidity and try to get my nose and lungs to clear up.”
“It´s a little hard to breathe,” she said. “I´m not feeling great. Energy is pretty low.”
Still, Vonn stayed out to join 22-year-old Lauren Macuga for the podium celebration after her much younger American teammate tied for third and secured a medal in her first world championship race – a feat that not even Vonn accomplished two decades ago at her first worlds.
“I am really excited for Lauren, she skied amazing. I´m really proud of her,” Vonn said.
These are Vonn’s ninth worlds but her first since the 2019 edition when she won bronze in downhill in her final race before retirement. The American has won two golds at the worlds, having swept the super-G and downhill in Val d’Isere, France, in 2009, and has an overall haul of eight medals.
Vonn is also the 2010 Olympic downhill champion and has two bronze medals from the Olympics.
