Lindsey Vonn at 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships: Daily Leaderboard, Analysis

Lindsey Vonn's return to the World Championships has produced at least one more medal for the decorated American star.

She's racing on her hometown slopes in Vail, Colorado just two years after suffering a horrific knee injury at the 2013 World Championships.

Ladies Giant Slalom: Run 2 (Feb. 12)

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Vonn's disappointing opening run in the giant slalom kept her out of contention for a medal. But to her credit, Vonn's second run was excellent, as the star had the fifth-best time in the evening session and finished 14th overall. 

Anna Fenninger won the event, with Viktoria Rebensburg coming in second and Jessica Lindell-Vikarby finishing third. You can see the full results below.

Rank	Name	Run 1	RK1	Run 2	RK2	Total	DIFF
1	FENNINGER Anna	1:08.98	1	+0.30	2	2:19.16
2	REBENSBURG Viktoria	+1.70	11	1:09.88	1	2:20.56	+1.40
3	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	+0.90	3	+0.89	6	2:20.65	+1.49
4	WEIRATHER Tina	+1.35	5	+0.50	3	2:20.71	+1.55
5	MAZE Tina	+1.10	4	+0.94	7	2:20.90	+1.74
6	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	+0.81	2	+1.24	11	2:20.91	+1.75
7	ZETTEL Kathrin	+1.72	13	+0.73	4	2:21.31	+2.15
8	SHIFFRIN Mikaela	+1.72	13	+1.05	9	2:21.63	+2.47
9	PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria	+1.65	9	+1.33	12	2:21.84	+2.68
10	HECTOR Sara	+1.69	10	+1.41	13	2:21.96	+2.80
11	LOESETH Nina	+1.40	6	+1.73	21	2:21.99	+2.83
12	HANSDOTTER Frida	+1.71	12	+1.57	17	2:22.14	+2.98
13	WORLEY Tessa	+2.40	20	+1.01	8	2:22.27	+3.11
14	VONN Lindsey	+2.67	27	+0.85	5	2:22.38	+3.22
15	BAUD Adeline	+2.39	19	+1.18	10	2:22.43	+3.27
16	FANCHINI Nadia	+2.32	18	+1.45	16	2:22.63	+3.47
17	HOLDENER Wendy	+1.99	15	+1.85	24	2:22.70	+3.54
18	MOWINCKEL Ragnhild	+2.54	23	+1.41	13	2:22.81	+3.65
19	GISIN Dominique	+2.59	26	+1.43	15	2:22.88	+3.72
20	MOELGG Manuela	+2.20	16	+1.89	25	2:22.95	+3.79
21	LAVTAR Katarina	+2.41	21	+1.72	20	2:22.99	+3.83
22	TOMMY Mikaela	+2.56	24	+1.67	19	2:23.09	+3.93
23	GAGNON Marie-Michele	+2.56	24	+1.75	22	2:23.17	+4.01
24	DREV Ana	+2.44	22	+2.04	28	2:23.34	+4.18
25	STUHEC Ilka	+2.69	28	+2.00	27	2:23.55	+4.39
26	MANCUSO Julia	+2.83	29	+2.10	29	2:23.79	+4.63
27	PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier	+3.65	31	+1.63	18	2:24.14	+4.98
28	HASEGAWA Emi	+3.51	30	+1.97	26	2:24.34	+5.18
29	CRAWFORD Candace	+3.84	34	+1.75	22	2:24.45	+5.29
30	VLHOVA Petra	+4.00	35	+2.83	31	2:25.69	+6.53
31	SOPPELA Merle	+3.81	33	+3.05	32	2:25.72	+6.56
32	GISIN Michelle	+3.71	32	+3.52	34	2:26.09	+6.93
33	ROMANOVA Anastasia	+4.59	37	+2.74	30	2:26.19	+7.03
34	MCJAMES Megan	+4.60	38	+3.39	33	2:26.85	+7.69
35	TILLEY Alexandra	+4.63	39	+3.57	35	2:27.06	+7.90
36	SMALL Greta	+4.18	36	+4.34	40	2:27.38	+8.22
37	POPOVIC Leona	+4.74	40	+3.97	38	2:27.57	+8.41
38	MISAK Iva	+4.87	41	+4.03	39	2:27.76	+8.60
38	GASIENICA-DANIEL Maryna	+5.07	44	+3.83	37	2:27.76	+8.60
40	MIKLOS Edit	+5.45	45	+3.59	36	2:27.90	+8.74
41	KIRKOVA Maria	+4.92	43	+4.43	41	2:28.21	+9.05
42	IGNJATOVIC Nevena	+4.88	42	+4.69	45	2:28.43	+9.27
43	GUEST Charlotte	+6.29	47	+4.59	43	2:29.74	+10.58
44	KOMSIC Andrea	+6.45	49	+4.68	44	2:29.99	+10.83
45	CHRYSTAL Lavinia	+6.56	50	+5.26	46	2:30.68	+11.52
46	BANCORA Salome	+5.56	46	+6.53	51	2:30.95	+11.79
47	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	+7.28	55	+5.38	47	2:31.52	+12.36
47	BARAHONA Noelle	+6.79	53	+5.87	48	2:31.52	+12.36
49	MATSOTSKA Bogdana	+6.33	48	+6.40	50	2:31.59	+12.43
50	SCHLEPER Sarah	+8.36	57	+4.51	42	2:31.73	+12.57
51	SIMARI BIRKNER Angelica	+6.70	51	+7.26	53	2:32.82	+13.66
52	TRSINSKI Sasa	+7.13	54	+6.89	52	2:32.88	+13.72
53	NOVAKOVIC Zana	+7.95	56	+6.18	49	2:32.99	+13.83
54	CAILL Ania Monica	+8.56	58	+7.52	54	2:34.94	+15.78
55	CAPOVA Gabriela	+8.75	59	+7.74	55	2:35.35	+16.19
56	VILHJALMSDOTTIR Helga Maria	+8.88	60	+7.80	56	2:35.54	+16.38
DNF	ROVE Kristiina	+6.70	51	-	-	-	+6.70
DNF	PAULATHOVA Katerina	+2.21	17	-	-	-	+2.21
DNF	BARIOZ Taina	+1.52	7	-	-	-	+1.52
DNF	BASSINO Marta	+1.53	8	-	-	-	+1.53

Vonn spoke of her performance after the race, via NBC Sports.

Nick Zaccardi of NBC OlympicTalk put her impressive second run into perspective:

And so Vonn's World Championships comes to a close with a single medal, the bronze in the super G. Surely she would have preferred to have earned more hardware in her time at Vail, but the fact that she competed in several events she hasn't raced in several years and really impressed in her second run on Thursday shouldn't go ignored. 

Ladies Giant Slalom: Run 1 (Feb. 12)

Al Bello/Getty Images

Vonn's chances of earning a second medal at the World Championships ended with her first run in the giant slalom on Thursday, as she found herself in 27th place with a time of 1:11.65.

Anna Fenninger was in first place after the first run, with Michaela Kirchgasser in second and Jessica Lindell -Vikarby in third. Tina Maze, who has been excellent at the World Championships, is lurking in fourth. 

Here are the full results.

Rank	Name	Time	Differential
1	FENNINGER Anna	1:08.98	-
2	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1:09.79	+0.81
3	LINDELL-VIKARBY Jessica	1:09.88	+0.90
4	MAZE Tina	1:10.08	+1.10
5	WEIRATHER Tina	1:10.33	+1.35
6	LOESETH Nina	1:10.38	+1.40
7	BARIOZ Taina	1:10.50	+1.52
8	BASSINO Marta	1:10.51	+1.53
9	PIETILAE-HOLMNER Maria	1:10.63	+1.65
10	HECTOR Sara	1:10.67	+1.69
11	REBENSBURG Viktoria	1:10.68	+1.70
12	HANSDOTTER Frida	1:10.69	+1.71
13	ZETTEL Kathrin	1:10.70	+1.72
13	SHIFFRIN Mikaela	1:10.70	+1.72
15	HOLDENER Wendy	1:10.97	+1.99
16	MOELGG Manuela	1:11.18	+2.20
17	PAULATHOVA Katerina	1:11.19	+2.21
18	FANCHINI Nadia	1:11.30	+2.32
19	BAUD Adeline	1:11.37	+2.39
20	WORLEY Tessa	1:11.38	+2.40
21	LAVTAR Katarina	1:11.39	+2.41
22	DREV Ana	1:11.42	+2.44
23	MOWINCKEL Ragnhild	1:11.52	+2.54
24	TOMMY Mikaela	1:11.54	+2.56
24	GAGNON Marie-Michele	1:11.54	+2.56
26	GISIN Dominique	1:11.57	+2.59
27	VONN Lindsey	1:11.65	+2.67
28	STUHEC Ilka	1:11.67	+2.69
29	MANCUSO Julia	1:11.81	+2.83
30	HASEGAWA Emi	1:12.49	+3.51
31	PREFONTAINE Marie-Pier	1:12.63	+3.65
32	GISIN Michelle	1:12.69	+3.71
33	SOPPELA Merle	1:12.79	+3.81
34	CRAWFORD Candace	1:12.82	+3.84
35	VLHOVA Petra	1:12.98	+4.00
36	SMALL Greta	1:13.16	+4.18
37	ROMANOVA Anastasia	1:13.57	+4.59
38	MCJAMES Megan	1:13.58	+4.60
39	TILLEY Alexandra	1:13.61	+4.63
40	POPOVIC Leona	1:13.72	+4.74
41	MISAK Iva	1:13.85	+4.87
42	IGNJATOVIC Nevena	1:13.86	+4.88
43	KIRKOVA Maria	1:13.90	+4.92
44	GASIENICA-DANIEL Maryna	1:14.05	+5.07
45	MIKLOS Edit	1:14.43	+5.45
46	BANCORA Salome	1:14.54	+5.56
47	GUEST Charlotte	1:15.27	+6.29
48	MATSOTSKA Bogdana	1:15.31	+6.33
49	KOMSIC Andrea	1:15.43	+6.45
50	CHRYSTAL Lavinia	1:15.54	+6.56
51	SIMARI BIRKNER Angelica	1:15.68	+6.70
51	ROVE Kristiina	1:15.68	+6.70
53	BARAHONA Noelle	1:15.77	+6.79
54	TRSINSKI Sasa	1:16.11	+7.13
55	SIMARI BIRKNER Maria Belen	1:16.26	+7.28
56	NOVAKOVIC Zana	1:16.93	+7.95
57	SCHLEPER Sarah	1:17.34	+8.36
58	CAILL Ania Monica	1:17.54	+8.56
59	CAPOVA Gabriela	1:17.73	+8.75
60	VILHJALMSDOTTIR Helga Maria	1:17.86	+8.88
61	GASTALDI Nicol	1:18.01	+9.03
62	EINARSDOTTIR Freydis Halla	1:18.14	+9.16
63	TSIKLAURI Nino	1:18.23	+9.25
64	NELLES Mathilde	1:18.35	+9.37
65	MOE-LANGE Yina	1:18.66	+9.68
66	TIKUN Tetyana	1:18.88	+9.90
67	ABOLTINA Agnese	1:18.94	+9.96
68	GASUNA Evelina	1:19.68	+10.70
69	ARBEZ Tess	1:20.75	+11.77
70	KNYSH Olha	1:21.13	+12.15
71	ASGEIRSDOTTIR Erla	1:22.08	+13.10
72	BERECZ Anna	1:22.48	+13.50
73	HALILOVIC Amira	1:22.95	+13.97
74	OETTL REYES Ornella	1:22.99	+14.01
75	PELLEGRIN Elise	1:23.17	+14.19
76	MEHILLI Suela	1:24.27	+15.29
77	BONDARE Liene	1:24.35	+15.37
78	PFINGSTHORN Magdalena	1:24.46	+15.48
79	XIA Lina	1:24.50	+15.52
80	BUCHLER Gitit	1:24.73	+15.75
81	BERTHELSEN Nuunu Chemnitz	1:25.64	+16.66
82	BELL Florence	1:27.21	+18.23
83	MAROTY Monika	1:27.58	+18.60
84	SAMARINOU Maria	1:27.67	+18.69
85	GKOGKOU Anastasia	1:27.74	+18.76
86	RALLI Sophia	1:28.01	+19.03
87	MOE Lisa Christine Blunck	1:29.50	+20.52
88	QIN Xiyue	1:30.00	+21.02
89	KOKKINI Anastasia	1:30.24	+21.26
90	NASSAR Lea	1:30.79	+21.81
91	PALIUTKINA Olga	1:31.10	+22.12
92	HADDAD Yasma	1:34.08	+25.10
93	KEIROUZ Celine	1:37.90	+28.92
94	THAKUR Aanchal	1:42.79	+33.81
95	DEVI Varsha	2:02.51	+53.53
DNS	WU Meng-Chien	-	-
DNS	JANKOVIC Masa	-	-
DNS	HUDSON Piera	-	-
DNF	MANDIC Nina	-	-
DNF	MOHBAT Natacha	-	-
DNF	CSIMA Reka	-	-
DNF	JANUSKEVICIUTE Ieva	-	-
DNF	VICUNA Josefina	-	-
DNF	KIEK Ronnie	-	-
DNF	MERDANOVIC Sejla	-	-
DNF	HARRISSON Maya	-	-
DNF	BRIGNONE Federica	-	-
DNF	MARMOTTAN Anemone	-	-
DNF	GUT Lara	-	-
DNF	BREM Eva-Maria	-	-
DSQ	BARANOVA Tatjana	-	-
DSQ	BULATOVIC Ivana	-	-
DSQ	ELVINGER Catherine	-	-
DSQ	GRIGOREVA Kseniya	-	-
DSQ	GASUNA Lelde	-	-

After the race, Vonn tried to keep things in perspective, via Kami Carmann of Fox 31 of Denver:

Of course, it shouldn't come as a huge surprise that Vonn wouldn't medal in this event based on her past, as Nick Zaccardi of NBC OlympicTalk tweeted:

But hey, there was one positive for Vonn on Thursday—Tiger Woods, fresh off of announcing he would be taking a leave from golf, showed up to support her, per Universal Sports on Twitter:

And so Vonn will prepare for her second run, well aware of the fact that she won't be medaling or finishing anywhere near the podium. A strong showing in the second run might at least take a bit of the sting out of what has ultimately been a pretty disappointing World Championships for her.

Ladies Alpine Combined: Slalom (Feb. 9) 

Al Bello/Getty Images

Vonn's first leg of the Ladies Alpine Combined got off to a rough start in the downhill competition. Things only got worse for Vonn during the slalom, as she straddled a gate and was disqualified from the competition.

Afterwards, a visibly emotional Vonn spoke about her disappointing result during the NBCSN broadcast, via Nick Zaccardi of NBC OlympicTalk:

"

I’m just really disappointed. It’s a hometown World Championships, and I really tried as hard as I could. I came up short, and that’s disappointing for myself, for my family and for my fans. I just didn’t figure out this hill at all. I’m disappointed today because I actually skied really good slalom the last two days [in training]. I thought I had a chance at getting a medal.

"

Unfortunately, the combined competition has been her Achilles heel, as Zaccardi tweeted:

To be fair to Vonn, she hasn't competed in this event since December of 2012, so a bit of rust is hardly unexpected.

While Vonn's Worlds continued to sour, Tina Maze's kept getting better, as she won the event and medaled for the third time. Nicole Hosp finished with a silver and Michaela Kirchgasser took the bronze. Here are the full results:

Rank	Name	Run 1	Rk1	Run 2	Rk2	Total	Differential
1	MAZE Tina	1:45.25	1	+0.98	5	2:33.37	-
2	HOSP Nicole	+0.90	4	+0.30	2	2:33.59	+0.22
3	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	+1.33	8	47.14	1	2:33.72	+0.35
4	FENNINGER Anna	+0.26	3	+1.61	6	2:34.26	+0.89
5	GUT Lara	+0.02	2	+1.90	7	2:34.31	+0.94
6	ZETTEL Kathrin	+1.75	11	+0.87	4	2:35.01	+1.64
7	STUHEC Ilka	+1.14	6	+2.27	11	2:35.80	+2.43
8	MARSAGLIA Francesca	+1.40	9	+2.17	10	2:35.96	+2.59
9	MOWINCKEL Ragnhild	+1.07	5	+2.52	14	2:35.98	+2.61
10	BAILET Margot	+2.24	14	+1.96	8	2:36.59	+3.22
11	BUCIK Ana	+4.76	23	+0.62	3	2:37.77	+4.40
12	BRODNIK Vanja	+3.01	19	+2.50	13	2:37.90	+4.53
13	HRONEK Veronique	+2.06	12	+3.46	17	2:37.91	+4.54
14	ROSS Laurenne	+1.46	10	+4.16	20	2:38.01	+4.64
15	MANCUSO Julia	+2.67	16	+2.96	15	2:38.02	+4.65
16	FANCHINI Elena	+2.31	15	+4.14	19	2:38.84	+5.47
17	WILES Jacqueline	+2.88	17	+3.81	18	2:39.08	+5.71
18	SMALL Greta	+3.76	22	+3.24	16	2:39.39	+6.02
19	KOMSIC Andrea	+6.60	25	+2.29	12	2:41.28	+7.91
20	KRIZOVA Klara	+3.44	21	+5.70	22	2:41.53	+8.16
21	SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena	+7.42	26	+1.97	9	2:41.78	+8.41
22	BARAHONA Noelle	+6.07	24	+4.48	21	2:42.94	+9.57
DNS	SCHNARF Johanna	+3.28	20	-	-	-	-
DNF	TVIBERG Maria Therese	+2.09	13	-	-	-	-
DNF	VONN Lindsey	+1.31	7	-	-	-	-
DNF	NUFER Priska	+2.97	18	-	-	-	-

All is not lost for Vonn, of course, as she still has the giant slalom on Thursday to make up for a few rough races. Despite talking of knee soreness earlier on Monday, she seems to be gunning for the giant slalom.

“I have one more chance in the GS, and I’ll do my best there,” she said after the race, via Zaccardi. “A lot of expectations, and I tried my best to live up to them, but I just didn’t.”

Al Bello/Getty Images

It would certainly be disappointing for Vonn if she only came away from this competition with a bronze medal. Expect a focused and perhaps even angry Vonn when she hits the slopes on Thursday.

Ladies Alpine Combined: Downhill (Feb. 9) 

Al Bello/Getty Images

Vonn found herself in danger of not medaling in the Ladies Alpine Combine after the downhill portion of the competition, as she finished in seventh place with a time of 1:46.56. Tina Maze topped the leaderboard after the first half of the event with a time of 1:45.25, while Lara Gut was second overall and Anna Fenninger was third.

Here are the full results from the downhill portion:

Rank	Name	Time	Differential
1	MAZE Tina	1:45.25	-
2	GUT Lara	1:45.27	+0.02
3	FENNINGER Anna	1:45.51	+0.26
4	HOSP Nicole	1:46.15	+0.90
5	MOWINCKEL Ragnhild	1:46.32	+1.07
6	STUHEC Ilka	1:46.39	+1.14
7	VONN Lindsey	1:46.56	+1.31
8	KIRCHGASSER Michaela	1:46.58	+1.33
9	MARSAGLIA Francesca	1:46.65	+1.40
10	ROSS Laurenne	1:46.71	+1.46
11	ZETTEL Kathrin	1:47.00	+1.75
12	HRONEK Veronique	1:47.31	+2.06
13	TVIBERG Maria Therese	1:47.34	+2.09
14	BAILET Margot	1:47.49	+2.24
15	FANCHINI Elena	1:47.56	+2.31
16	MIKLOS Edit	1:47.76	+2.51
17	MANCUSO Julia	1:47.92	+2.67
18	WILES Jacqueline	1:48.13	+2.88
19	NUFER Priska	1:48.22	+2.97
20	BRODNIK Vanja	1:48.26	+3.01
21	SCHNARF Johanna	1:48.53	+3.28
22	KRIZOVA Klara	1:48.69	+3.44
23	SMALL Greta	1:49.01	+3.76
24	BUCIK Ana	1:50.01	+4.76
25	BARAHONA Noelle	1:51.32	+6.07
26	KOMSIC Andrea	1:51.85	+6.60
27	SIMARI BIRKNER Macarena	1:52.67	+7.42
DNF	COLETTI Alexandra	-	-
DNF	POPOVIC Leona	-	-
DNF	GRENIER Valerie	-	-
DNF	GAGNON Marie-Michele	-	-
DNF	CURTONI Elena	-	-

As though Vonn's fairly large deficit didn't hurt her enough, she also noted that she wasn't 100 percent after the race, per Nick Zaccardi of NBC OlympicTalk:

In fact, Zaccardi didn't even expect her to finish the event:

That would certainly add another disappointment to what has been a less than stellar competition for Vonn, who has nabbed a bronze and a fifth-place finish to this point. Surely, she would have loved to medal in this event.

Doug Pensinger/Getty Images

But with a medal unlikely after her downhill run and the conditions not aiding her sore knee, it might be prudent for Vonn to withdraw from the event and live to fight another day, so to speak.

Ladies' Downhill (Feb. 6)

Vonn failed to match her Super G success in the ladies' downhill. She's got off to a strong start but lost too much speed in the middle of the course and couldn't make up for it. Tina Maze of Slovenia picked up the gold medal.

Anna Fenninger of Austria and Lara Gut of Switzerland will join Maze on the podium by earning silver and bronze, respectively. Vonn finished fifth. She was the top American on the final leaderboard.

Here's the complete list of results via the event's official site:

Rank	Name	Country	Time	Difference
1	Tina Maze	Slovenia	1:45.89	-
2	Anna Fenninger	Austria	1:45.91	+0.02
3	Lara Gut	Switzerland	1:46.23	+0.34
4	Nicole Schmidhofer	Austria	1:46.92	+1.03
5	Lindsey Vonn	United States	1:46.94	+1.05
6	Elisabeth Gorgl	Austria	1:46.95	+1.06
7	Nadja Jnglin-Kamer	Switzerland	1:46.97	+1.08
8	Daniela Merighetti	Italy	1:47.14	+1.25
9	Fabienne Suter	Switzerland	1:47.18	+1.29
10	Viktoria Rebensburg	Germany	1:47.24	+1.35
11	Tina Weirather	Liechtenstein	1:47.27	+1.38
12	Nadia Fanchini	Italy	1:47.34	+1.45
13	Edit Miklos	Hungary	1:47.53	+1.64
14	Larisa Yurkiw	Canada	1:47.65	+1.76
15	Cornelia Hutter	Austria	1:47.87	+1.98
16	Julia Mancuso	United States	1:47.93	+2.04
17	Laurenne Ross	United States	1:47.95	+2.06
18	Kajsa Kling	Sweden	1:47.99	+2.10
19	Stacey Cook	United States	1:48.05	+2.16
20	Ilka Stuhec	Slovenia	1:48.06	+2.17
21	Alexandra Coletti	Monaco	1:48.07	+2.18
21	Margot Bailet	France	1:48.07	+2.18
23	Carolina Ruiz Castillo	Spain	1:48.27	+2.38
24	Jennifer Piot	France	1:48.34	+2.45
25	Ragnhild Mowinckel	Norway	1:48.54	+2.65
26	Elena Fanchini	Italy	1:48.72	+2.83
27	Maria Therese Tviberg	Norway	1:48.78	+2.89
28	Johanna Schnarf	Italy	1:48.80	+2.91
29	Marianne Abderhalden	Switzerland	1:48.82	+2.93
30	Vanja Brodnik	Slovenia	1:49.55	+3.66
31	Veronique Hronek	Germany	1:50.43	+4.54
32	Klara Krizova	Czech Republic	1:50.79	+4.90
33	Greta Small	Australia	1:51.97	+6.08
34	Macarena Simari Birkner	Argentina	1:53.18	+7.29
35	Noelle Barahona	Chile	1:53.77	+7.88
36	Leona Popovic	Croatia	1:53.88	+7.99
37	Andrea Komsic	Croatia	1:54.00	+8.11
T-38	Marie Marchand-Arvier	France	DNF	-
T-38	Valerie Grenier	Canada	DNF	-

Nick Zaccardi of NBC Olympic Talk notes it's the worst downhill result of Vonn's World Championship career and marks the first time she didn't medal when participating since 2005:

Jeff Todd of CBS Denver passed along a Vine to show the local crowd supporting her despite the lackluster result by her incredibly high standards:

Vonn looked like a serious contender for gold early in the run. She matched Maze's first interval and was five-hundredths of a second ahead at the second checkpoint. She slowly faded out of contention from there, however, ending over a second off the pace.

The American simply couldn't maintain that early speed through the middle stages. And once a skier starts to fall behind it's incredibly difficult to get back in a groove quick enough to rebound, especially at this level of competition.

Zaccardi provided post-race comments Vonn made on the NBC Sports Network. She said the feeling just wasn't there on Friday.

"I didn't have the greatest feeling on the snow, couldn't get things going," Vonn said. "It's unfortunate. I wish I could have done better today for the hometown crowd."

Al Bello/Getty Images

Ultimately, the result shows that despite her strong showing in the Super G on Tuesday there's still work left to do. She's not quite back in top, pre-injury form yet and that's what it usually takes to win in the World Championships.

The men are set to take center stage at Beaver Creek Resort in Colorado over the weekend. They are scheduled to have the downhill competition on Saturday followed by the both parts of the Alpine Combined event on Sunday.

The ladies will next race for medals on Monday with the Alpine Combined. Vonn's lack of slalom runs in recent years probably means expectations should kept within reason for that event. It will still be interesting to see how she responds after coming up short in the downhill, though.

Her track record suggests she's a contender every time she takes to the slopes.

Ladies' Super G (Feb. 3)

The official Twitter feed for the Beaver Creek Resort provided a look at the leaderboard: 

A bronze medal may not be what Vonn was hoping for after she won five of her first 10 races in her return from injury. But her sixth World Championships medal puts her in a special place among American skiiers, as NBC's Nick Zaccardi pointed out:

Nick Zaccardi of NBC Sports notes this is her first medal for a major championship in four years:

"

Lindsey Vonn won her first major championship medal in four years, bronze in the World Championships super-G behind Austrian Anna Fenninger, who followed her Olympic title with Worlds gold.

"

Vonn's run epitomized her last two resilient years. 

Battling some intense winds at the top of the hill, a slow start out of the gates had her trailing surprise leader Cornelia Huetter by 0.28 and 0.42 seconds after the first two splits. Seemingly out of contention, she responded with a blazing finish down the mountain. She was only .03 seconds behind Huetter after the third split, and by the time she crossed the finish line, she was in first place.

Vonn later commented on the imperfect conditions, via 9news.com's Cheryl Preheim: 

The 30-year-old will surely be left wondering what could have been if the weather was better, but it was still some very good skiing down the stretch. Unsurprisingly, her hometown Vail crowd was worked into a frenzy after the impressive run: 

Ecstasy quickly turned to disappointment, though, as Maze beat Vonn's time on the very next run, moving the latter into second place. 

As Zaccardi noted, it was the battle many were expecting to see in 2013 before Vonn went down with the injury and the Slovenian went on to capture gold: 

Three skiiers later, Fenninger moved into a first, which is where she would remain. After conquering the world in Sochi, the 25-year-old Austrian is the first woman to win back-to-back Super-G titles at the Olympics and World Championships, per Zaccardi. 

For Vonn, the third-place finish may leave a slightly bitter taste in her mouth, simply because she left so much time to make up during the first half of the race. 

But with seven podiums in 11 races, she continues to prove her injury is having no effect on her, both mentally and physically. The 2018 Olympics are still very far in the distance, and Maze and Fenninger are two adversaries who aren't going away, but Vonn clearly remains among the world's best.