Lindsey Vonn bids to put the disappointment of her last world title bid further behind her on Friday when she takes centre stage in the alpine World Championships women's downhill.
The US ski queen, who is the most decorated female skier in history, never got an opportunity to compete in the downhill at the 2013 Worlds because of a high-speed crash in the super-G.
Now Vonn wants to keep her miracle comeback from two knee surgeries going by winning her second medal in four days after she took bronze in Tuesday's super-G in Beaver Creek.
Vonn, who grew up in Vail, Colorado, will be going for gold on her home snow on the twisting and pitching 2,530 metre Raptor course.
"I can definitely ski better. Hopefully we'll have a nice, fair race and I'll able to get another medal," said Vonn.
Vonn won the downhill at the 2011 biennial championships and France's Marion Rolland took advantage of her absence to claim the gold two years later in Schladming, Austria.
Rolland won't defend her title after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee during a crash in mid-January.
Austria's Anna Fenninger winner of Tuesday's Super-G, posted the fastest time in downhill training on Thursday.
Reigning Overall World Cup champ Fenninger flashed down the course in a time of one minute, 47.48 seconds to lead Tina Maze of Slovenia by 0.03 seconds. Lara Gut of Switzerland was third in 1:48.22, the trio establishing themselves as the skiers to beat in the downhill.
Vonn was well back in 19th with a time of 1:49.84 after she slipped up and missed a gate.
Nevertheless, Vonn must be counted a medal contender.
She put a stamp on her impressive recovery from the knee surgeries by claiming her 63rd World Cup victory two weeks ago to become the most successful female skier in history.
Source: AFP