Lindsey Vonn on the slopes of St Mortiz, almost six years after her last World Cup race

St. Moritz (Switzerland) (AFP) - US ski legend Lindsey Vonn made an impressive return to competitive action almost six years after her last race finishing 14th in the women’s World Cup super-G in St Moritz on Saturday.

The 40-year-old American, who last raced at this level at the world championships in Are in 2019, was 31st to start and clocked 1 minute 16.36 seconds, 1.18sec behind the winner Cornelia Huetter.

The Austrian winner was 0.18sec ahead of Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami with the Italian Sofia Goggia completing the podium.

Huetter moves second in the overall standings, 37 points behind Camille Rast of Switzerland.

She is third in the discipline standings 10 points behind joint leaders Goggia, who won the opening super-G of the season at Beaver Creek last week, and Gut-Behrami.

All eyes, however, were on Vonn who has come back to the sport hoping to qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Vonn left the sport in 2019 after a series of major injuries but she has been free of pain since a right knee replacement in April, when part of the bone was cut off and replaced by two titanium pieces.

She was the most decorated women’s skier with 82 World Cup victories when she retired. Her mark has since been eclipsed by fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin’s 99.

Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion, also won 20 World Cup titles, including four overall crystal globes, eight world championship medals and secured 137 World Cup podiums.

She will have a chance to go even better when she takes part in another super-G at St Moritz on Sunday.