Lindsey Vonn Earns 77th Career Win in 2nd Race Back from Injury

Lindsey Vonn got back in the win column Saturday by placing first in a downhill ski event in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, for victory No. 77 in her illustrious career.

The Associated Press (via ESPN) reported the triumph came in just her second official event back from a knee injury and a broken arm. It also left her just seven wins behind Ingemar Stenmark's all-time record.

Afterward, the 32-year-old American admitted there was some risk involved with returning to competition action so quickly after the health woes, according to the AP.

"I just got to the bottom and I cried," she said. "I worked really hard to come back. I feel like sometimes I come back so quickly. Everyone forgets how much time and energy and blood, sweat and tears it takes to come back without any training and just jump in there."

Vonn added: "I had to trust myself and my team and my technician and we all did our best and today was just amazing. I'm so happy that it only took me two races to get back on the top step."

She also posted a celebratory message on social media:

It was a narrow victory. She beat out Switzerland's Lara Gut, who's currently second in the World Cup standings, by 15 hundredths of a second. In all, five competitors finished within one second of her winning time (1:43.41), per FIS-SKI.com.

Vonn missed just over two months with the latest physical setbacks. She's dealt with numerous injuries in recent years, including a knee problem that caused her to miss the 2014 Winter Olympics after winning two medals at the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

When healthy, she's continued to prove herself as one of the sport's top contenders. The four-time World Cup champion finished second in the overall standings in 2016 and won the downhill title.

Now Vonn's task is making it through the rest of the year without any additional health issues. The 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, are less than 13 months away, and missing a second straight Games is the worst-case scenario at this stage of her career.