Lindsey Vonn overcomes fractured knee to earn World Cup points
By AFP Sport
Last Updated: 28/02/16 5:00pm
Lindsey Vonn defied injury to earn some valuable World Cup points in a super-combined race in Andorra on Sunday.
The 31-year-old American sustained a hairline fracture of her left knee the day before she fell heavily in a super-G race.
It was initially feared her season could be over, but, after waking up and feeling better, Vonn took to the slopes and recorded a fastest time of 57.04secs in a shortened speed leg of the combined.
"No-one can ever call me a wimp," she declared on Twitter after that run.
Vonn was back in action for the slalom later in the afternoon and while she was unable to take the 77th World Cup win of her career, she still did enough to place 13th, giving her 20 points.
Her great rival for what would be a fifth overall World Cup title and first since 2012, Lara Gut of Switzerland, came away empty-handed after she straddled a gate halfway down the course.
"Drained my knee a few times and it's feeling a little better. Going to go up on the hill and see how it feels. Wish me luck!!" Vonn said on her Facebook page ahead of the day's racing.
The first run was then delayed for two and a half hours due to poor weather conditions.
Vonn has a history of knee injuries sustained in competition, and there were fears she may have suffered serious injury when she fell heavily in Saturday's super-G race and needed to be stretchered off the piste.
But after X-rays showed the injury was a hairline fracture in her left knee and not ligament damage, Vonn announced she was determined to compete in Sunday's super-combined.
Vonn ended the day with an increased lead over Gut as she advanced to 1235 points, 28 points more than her Swiss rival.
The race was won by Canadian Marie-Michale Gagnon with Switzerland's Wendy Holdener second and Anne-Sophie Barthet of France third.
