Vonn faces downhill training, race on same day of comeback
ALTENMARKT-ZAUCHENSEE, Austria (AP) Lindsey Vonn will have to ski in a training run and a downhill race within hours of each other to make her World Cup comeback on Saturday.
Organizers rescheduled Friday's training for 0815 GMT the next morning, two hours prior to the race. The start gate will be lowered, which strips the Kalberloch course of its trademark steep pitch from the initial start.
Snow and fog forced the cancellation of training for a second straight day on Friday. The session had initially been postponed for three hours but conditions failed to improve. Thursday's first training was also called off because of bad weather.
A downhill race cannot be held without prior training.
If conditions don't allow training and the race on Saturday, the downhill program will be moved to Sunday and cancel a combined event, which was originally scheduled for that day.
Vonn, a four-time overall champion, and American teammate Julia Mancuso were planning to make their World Cup comebacks this weekend after extensive injury layoffs.
A year ago, the women's downhill was also affected by poor weather conditions. The event was carried out as an unusual two-run race on a shortened course, and was won by Vonn.