Lindsey Vonn wins first World Cup event in nearly two years

Lindsey Vonn captured her first World Cup victory in 23 months on Saturday by leading an American sweep in the women’s downhill event at Lake Louise in Alberta, Canada.

Saying her surgically repaired right knee “feels really good” and that she doesn’t “think about my knee at all,” she won the race in 1 minute 50.48 seconds to finish ahead of teammates Stacey Cook and Julia Mancuso.

The 2010 Olympic downhill winner and four-time World Cup champion last won a World Cup race in Slovenia in January 2013. Two months later, she crashed during the world championships, tearing her anterior-cruciate ligament and medial-collateral ligament in her right knee as well as fracturing her tibial plateau.

Her attempts to come back for the 2014 Olympics were met with another minor tear of her ACL during a training crash. She could not regain her form in time for the Sochi Games and underwent another surgery.

“I’m not expecting this kind of result all the time just yet,” Vonn said after her win. “But it definitely gives me a lot of confidence.

“My knee feels really good. I don’t think about my knee at all. I don’t ski differently because of it. I’m back to doing what I used to do.”

Vonn said that she’s finding the groove that has led her to 60 victories in World Cup competition, two shy of the record held by Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proell.

“It’s just finding my rhythm and finding my confidence,” Vonn said. “I’m finally back to where I feel confident, and I’m pushing the limits. I want more speed. I haven’t had that yet, until today.”

“We have a good energy,” she added of the U.S. team. “We all have a great dynamic. Everyone’s excited for this season.”