Lindsey Vonn reacts to young fan's emotional letter for her amid comeback season

Lindsey Vonn recently responded to a heartfelt letter from a young fan, highlighting how her comeback inspired the youngster. The American skier was participating in the World Championships in Saalbach, Austria.

Vonn returned to the slopes after a six-year break following her retirement in 2019, citing several severe injuries; she underwent knee surgery in April last year. After recovering, the 40-year-old announced her comeback for the first time at the FIS Fall Festival in Colorado.

Her most recent race was at the World Championships, where she faced a minor crash and couldn't complete the race, hurting her arm after hooking to the 11th gate. A few days after the accident, the skier received an emotional letter from a 20-year-old Lina, who revealed she had been Vonn's fan since she was six. Lina said she was inspired by the skier and learned to fight for herself from Vonn.

She wrote a lengthy letter to Vonn, highlighting what she learned from the American skier, and also mentioned her dream of watching her live and meeting her. Lindsey Vonn posted the letter on her Instagram story and wrote:

"Thank you Lina❤️ "

Lindsey Vonn's Instagram story (@lindseyvonn/IG)

Lindsey Vonn weighed in on the crash at the World Championship race

The race in Saalbach, Austria, was Lindsey Vonn's first World Championship race in six years. However, she did not expect to end it with a crash. In the first split of the race, she posted the 16th fastest time but eventually collided with the 11th gate. Just after this, she spoke about it to ESPN, revealing that she was fine but unable to feel anything in her arm.

"I am OK. I hit my nerve somehow and I hit the gate and lost feeling in my arm, but it's coming back slowly," said Lindsey Vonn.

She spoke to Olympics.com about the crash, giving a detailed look into the incident.

"I just went a little too early into the gate and I hooked my arm, I guess in between my arm guard and my glove is what someone told me," she added.

She also opened up about her preparation for the race and emphasized her hard work.

“I had no preparation. I didn’t expect to be here,” she said. “Literally every day is a test. I’m trying new things. I’m trying to get everything in a position to where next year I’m competitive. I know my skiing is there. I just need to get all of the other pieces put together to make a whole picture, and right now I don’t really have that. Again, I think I’ve done pretty well for what I have, but I just need a little bit more time."

In one of the updates, Lindsey Vonn revealed that her first World Championship race after her comeback did not pan out the way she expected. However, she exuded pride in Lauren Macuga for winning the race and said she had fun.