Vonn’s Olympic comeback gathers pace with third in Val d’Isere downhill | Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn’s expectations have changed so much during her Olympic return that even a podium now comes with a sense of frustration.

The 41-year-old American finished third in Saturday’s World Cup women’s downhill in Val d’Isère, France, extending a blistering start to the season that already included a victory and a second place in the space of nine days. But after a small mistake in the lower part of the course cost her valuable time, Vonn left the finish area convinced she had let a potential victory slip away.

Austrian Cornelia Huetter ran the cleanest race of the day to claim her first World Cup victory of the season, clocking 1:41.54 on the Oreiller-Killy course. Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann finished second, 0.26 seconds behind, while Vonn crossed the finish line 0.35 seconds behind the winner.

Running in difficult conditions and low light, Vonn briefly lost her balance after misjudging the terrain near the bottom of the course, a moment she said cost her about half a second. Moments earlier, she had widened her arms in disbelief when her split time fell below Weidle-Winkelmann’s first mark.

“If you had asked me last year if I would be happy with a podium, I would have said absolutely,” Vonn said afterwards. “But now I know I’m fast. When you make little mistakes, it’s the difference between winning and not.”

This result still marks Vonn’s third podium in four World Cup races this winter and the 141st of her career, an astonishing total for an athlete who returned to competition last season after nearly six years of retirement. A year ago, she failed to make the podium in her first 12 races on the circuit; she now leads the downhill rankings all season with 240 points.

Huetter, the reigning downhill crystal globe winner, was consistently faster than Vonn after the first time and reached a speed of 126 km/h (78 mph) as she claimed the 10th World Cup victory of her career. The 33-year-old Austrian now has five downhill victories and establishes himself as one of the main contenders for the Olympic downhill title in Cortina d’Ampezzo, scheduled for February 8.

Italy’s Sofia Goggia, widely considered Huetter’s biggest threat, made a costly mistake. Fastest at the halfway mark, the 2018 Olympic champion was forced almost to right herself as she corrected her balance coming out of a corner and skidded in the rough snow, finishing eighth, 0.62 seconds off the lead.

For Vonn, the overall picture remains overwhelmingly positive. Since having a titanium implant in her right knee, she has rediscovered both speed and confidence, capped by her first World Cup victory in seven years last weekend in St. Moritz. With less than seven weeks until the start of the Milan-Cortina Winter Games on February 6, she believes her trajectory is exactly where it needs to be.

“I’m looking forward to recharging a little bit,” Vonn said. “I know I’ll be ready.”

Val d’Isère concludes its women’s program on Sunday with a super-G before the World Cup circuit breaks for the holidays, with the next speed races scheduled for January in Altenmarkt, Austria.