Lindsey Vonn hooked a gate with her right arm early in her run and did not finish Thursday’s super-G in her first appearance at the Alpine skiing world championships in six years.
The gate pressed on her forearm, 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 in apparent pain.
Spectators in the area gasped and grew silent with concern. Vonn skied down to the finish and waved to the crowd.
Vonn, 40, retired in 2019 after winning bronze in downhill in Are, Sweden, following several injuries but returned to the circuit this season with a new titanium right knee.
She had entered the race a day after saying she was dealing with “a cold or the flu.”
Austrian skier Stephanie Venier won the super-G, finishing 0.10 seconds ahead of Federica Brignone of Italy. Lauren Macuga of the United States and Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway shared bronzes, 0.24 off the lead.
“It sounds unreal. I slept so bad last night. I was so nervous,” Venier told Austrian TV. “I was extremely nervous at the start, I didn’t know how to handle, but it was probably a good omen.”
Venier was the 2013 junior world champion in super-G, but her only medal in a senior race before Thursday was a silver in downhill from the 2017 worlds. She has three career World Cup wins, including one in a super-G in Switzerland a year ago.
The race started in mostly sunny conditions, but more clouds came in after the first half hour. More parts of the course were in the shadow when Vonn started in 30th position.
Thursday’s opening race at the worlds took place exactly one year before the 2026 opening ceremony for the Milan-Cortina Olympics.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
