Vonn's ailing knees 'decent' at worlds after downhill training session
Persistent pain forcing women's all-time World Cup wins leader into retirement
Lindsey Vonn, preparing for the final two races of her career, says her ailing knees feel fine after the opening downhill training session at the world championships.
Vonn placed 11th, 1.44 seconds behind leader Tamara Tippler of Austria.
Vonn, who started with the No. 1 bib Monday, stood up out of her tuck well before she crossed the finish line.
She will race the super-G on Tuesday and the downhill on Sunday.
WATCH | The race that led to Lindsey Vonn's retirement decision:
The president of the International Ski Federation said Vonn's retirement will "leave a big hole" in alpine skiing.
That's if she does indeed quit.
Gian Franco Kasper raised the intriguing possibility of Vonn continuing her illustrious career, saying: "Everything comes to an end and so does her career, if she really stops. We have to wait for that."
Kasper added "she did a lot for skiing" and that "she is a [public relations] machine."
Kasper noted "we will see" if skiing loses viewers because of Vonn's retirement, citing the impact Alberto Tomba had on the sport in Italy. "We had quotas of viewers you can't imagine. Nowadays in [southern Italy], nobody is watching Alpine skiing."
Ledecka uninjured in training crash
Skier-snowboarder Ester Ledecka was the only racer to crash in the opening downhill training session at worlds.
Ledecka says, "Last year we didn't have this jump there, because we started under it. So I didn't know what to expect from this jump. I saw many girls and nobody had the problem there so I expected it's not going to be that huge and I didn't make the right moves in the right time and then I was flying like an idiot."
A year ago, at the Pyeongchang Olympics, Ledecka followed her super-G victory in Alpine skiing by winning the parallel GS in snowboarding, becoming the first athlete to win two golds at the same Winter Games using two different types of equipment.
Ledecka will attempt to add to her medal haul in the super-G, the opening event of these championships, on Tuesday.
Shiffrin skips training run to rest
Aiming to stay fresh for Tuesday's super-G medal race, overall World Cup leader Mikaela Shiffrin did not fully take part in Monday's downhill training session.
The U.S. Ski Team says Shiffrin will not race the downhill in Are, adding, "She will make a decision about the alpine combined after super-G and will announce at that point."
While known for her exploits in slalom and giant slalom — she has won Olympic golds in both of those events — Shiffrin has suddenly become dominant in super-G, too, this season.
Shiffrin has won all three World Cup super-Gs she has entered this season and leads the discipline standings.