US speed star Lindsey Vonn will make her return to the World Ski Championships in Saalbach -- her ninth -- after coming out of retirement.
An eight-time world championship medallist, the 40-year-old first hung up her ski boots after snatching downhill bronze at the 2019 Are championships, becoming the oldest female ski racer to medal at a worlds.
That could realistically be under threat in Saalbach, where Vonn described the course on the Zwolferkogel mountain as "pretty easy".
Here, AFP Sport chronicles Vonn's performances at previous world championships:
- 2005 Bormio -
Races: downhill (4); super-G (9); giant slalom (DNF); combined (4)
An Olympian at age 17 in 2002, where she finished sixth in the combined, Vonn -- then skiing under her maiden name of Kildow -- won her first World Cup race in December 2004. The American made her world championships debut at the age of 20 in Bormio, competing in four races.
She bagged fourth-place finishes in both the downhill and the combined. She was ninth in super-G, but failed to finish the giant slalom.
- 2007 Are -
Races: downhill (2); super-G (2); combined (DSQ)
Vonn earned her first "big race" medals with two silvers in the downhill and super-G.
But she sustained a knee injury in a training crash before the slalom which ended her season.
- 2009 Val d'Isere -
Races: downhill (1); super-G (1); slalom (DNF2)
Vonn won her first world championship gold medal in Val d'Isere and also became the first American woman to win the world super-G title.
She missed the giant slalom for surgery after trying to spray a bottle of champagne -- opened with the edge of a ski -- over people attending a sponsor's party left her with a lacerated tendon in her right thumb.
"Obviously I'm not going to stop skiing. That's not an option for me," said Vonn. "I'm a ski racer. I'm not going to just not do anything because I've cut my thumb."
- 2011 Garmisch-Partenkirchen -
Races: downhill (2); super-G (7); combined (DNS2)
Vonn arrived at the German resort on the back of having won downhill gold and super-G bronze at the Vancouver Olympics.
She backed that up with silver in the downhill despite suffering from a concussion.
"I wasn't being a drama queen," Vonn said to justify her withdrawal after the speed disciplines.
- 2013 Schladming -
Races: super-G (DNF)
Vonn, by this stage of her career one of global sport's most recognisable and marketable female figures, suffered a dramatic crash during the opening super-G race in Schladming.
The race had started three and a half hours late due to thick fog. Vonn was leading but cartwheeled into the safety netting, leaving her with a torn anterior cruciate ligament and medial collateral ligament in her right knee, with a tibial plateau fracture.
She re-injured the knee on her return to action, which saw her miss the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
- 2015 Vail/Beaver Creek -
Races: downhill (5); super-G (3); giant slalom (14); combined (DNF)
Vonn claimed another world medal, this time on home snow, winning bronze in the super-G, but placing fifth in the downhill and 14th in the giant slalom.
"I was hoping for something special again in these worlds," said Vonn, who had then-partner Tiger Woods in tow at Vail and Beaver Creek.
"I wanted to do well too much. Things just didn't really work out. No matter how hard I tried it wasn't working. But I never gave up."
- 2017 St Moritz -
Races: downhill (3); super-G (5); combined (DNF)
At 32 years and 117 days, Vonn became the oldest female world championship medallist when she took downhill bronze.
"I'm really proud of that," she said. "I'm not that old, but I guess I'm old, so I'm happy. I'm old and I'm proud!
"It's been a struggle the last few years with my injuries and to be able to come back and get a medal at these world champs is awesome."
She then boosted her Olympic haul by taking downhill bronze at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.
- 2019 Are -
Races: downhill (3)
After announcing that she would retire after the 2019 world champs, Vonn bettered her own record for the oldest woman racer to medal by taking another bronze in the downhill -- her eighth world medal.
Now 34, she became the first female racer to receive medals at six different world championships.
As she drifted off into retirement after a record 19 storied seasons, she had won 82 World Cup races, in five disciplines. That World Cup record has since ben bettered by US teammate Mikaela Shiffrin (99).
"It was so fun, I was literally the most nervous I've ever been in my entire life," Vonn said. "I'm always full tilt and always on the limit. I was worried that I'd charge too hard and not make it down for my last race - that's my worst nightmare."
Note: Did not compete at 2021 Cortina d'Ampezzo and 2023 Courchevel/Meribel world championships
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