U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn holds the American flag after winning bronze in the Women’s Super-G at the Vancouver Olympics in Whistler, British Columbia, in February 2010.Lindsey Vonn has only two races remaining on her aching knees.
The women’s all-time leader in World Cup wins announced Friday she will retire from ski racing after this month’s world championships in Sweden.
Vonn, 34, had been planning to retire in December but changed her plans because of persistent pain in both of her knees, which she fully realized after failing to finish a race last month in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“It’s been an emotional 2 weeks making the hardest decision of my life, but I have accepted that I cannot continue ski racing,” Vonn wrote on Instagram. “I will compete at the World Championships in Downhill and SG (super-G) next week in Are, Sweden and they will be the final races of my career.”
The worlds open with the women’s Super-G on Tuesday in the Swedish resort of Are. The women’s downhill is scheduled for Feb. 10.