Lindsey Vonn gives honest take on her top-20 finish in training on return to Saalbach World Championships

Lindsey Vonn expressed her thoughts after posting the 20th fastest time in her first training run at the World Championships in Saalbach, Austria. The American skier came out of retirement last year and is yet to register a podium finish.

Vonn was on a week-long break following a disappointing campaign in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, and Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. However, she was over two seconds (2:20) slower than leader Lara Gut-Behrami in her first downhill training run on Tuesday in Saalbach.

It was her first run on the Zwölferkogel slopes in 23 years but the 40-year-old wasn't concerned about her slow time.

“I really put zero weight into training rounds because I'm testing things,” she told reporters (via Olympics.com).

The three-time Olympic medalist was in awe of the skiing conditions and said she had a lot of fun.

"I thought it was a really fun course, actually. Reminds me of when I was learning how to ski downhill in Vail. We had a lot of terrain that we built like this, so… No, it's fun. I honestly didn't expect it to be quite so fun," Lindsey Vonn added.

Vonn also shared a video of her enjoying the Zwölferkogel slopes on her Instagram story and wrote:

"Sliding into Saalbach like..."

Lindsey Vonn's Instagram story

The 40-year-old is one of the most decorated skiers in the history of the World Championships with eight medals and aims to add to her tally in Saalbach.

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"It really means nothing" - Lindsey Vonn on what her slow run means for medal chances at the World Championships

Lindsey Vonn during the Women's Downhill Training - Source: Getty

Lindsey Vonn is chasing history in her skiing comeback and could become the oldest skier to win a medal at the World Championships. The 40-year-old was confident of her medal chances in Saalbach despite finding little success in the World Cup and after registering a slow time on her first run, her confidence is undeterred.

"So for me—again, I keep saying it—this season is all about figuring out what it's going to take to be successful next year. And again, I'm further along than I expected, but a training run is a training run; it really means nothing. No one's getting a medal for a training run," she said.

Vonn's first race will be in women's Super-G on Thursday, February 6. She will feature in women's downhill on February 8 and two women's downhill and slalom combined events on February 11.