Wednesday 11 January 2017 16:26, UK
Lindsey Vonn will return to competition in Austria this week after an injury-plagued 2016.
The 2010 Olympic downhill champion fractured her left knee early last year and has spent the last two months rehabilitating after suffering a broken right arm in a training crash in November.
But the four-time overall World Cup champion has confirmed she will return to action at this weekend's meeting at the Altenmarkt-Zauchensee resort where she has won twice before and set a world record.
"Words cannot describe how excited I am to be returning to the slopes this week," Vonn said.
"It's been a tough three months with over 300 hours of rehabilitation but being able to go fast and compete again makes all of the hard work worth it.
"I am thrilled to make my return at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, a place where I have had incredible success, including breaking the World Cup Downhill win record in front of Annemarie Moser-Prll last year.
"I have already missed a few races but hopefully I can overcome that and still make a run at some World Cup titles."
Olympic slalom champion Mikaela Shiffrin admits she is looking forward to letting American team-mate Vonn take centre-stage in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee.
"For sure, when she is around, I feel like I am less the one that people want to talk to, and that is definitely nice. I am generally a quiet person," Shiffrin said.
"She is really good at the spotlight, I have to say that. She knows how to put on a show. I don't even think she is trying to, she is just like skiing fast and doing her thing and everybody wants to see that."
