Alpine skiing: Vonn to miss start of final season with knee injury

[November 21, 2018]  (Reuters) - Alpine skiing legend Lindsey Vonn will miss the start of her farewell season on the World Cup circuit due to a knee injury the American picked up in training, the 34-year-old said on Twitter on Tuesday.

The news comes as a setback in her quest to become the most prolific World Cup winner in history, Vonn's 82 career victories leaving her four short of Swede Ingemar Stenmark's record haul.

"Yesterday I crashed training Super-G and hurt my knee," Vonn tweeted on her verified account.

"The good news; I do NOT need surgery. The bad news; I won't be able to race in Lake Louise.

"LL (Lake Louise) has always been my favorite stop on the WC (World Cup) and I am devastated to not be coming this year."

Vonn was referring to the World Cup downhill and Super G races to be held at the Canadian resort on Saturday and Sunday.

The series shifts to Beaver Creek in Colorado the following weekend, before heading to Europe for the rest of the season.

Vonn did not indicate the exact nature of her injury, or how long she expected to be out of action.

U.S. alpine skier Lindsey Vonn. REUTERS/Danny Moloshok

The Colorado resident has made 392 career World Cup starts and more than half of her wins (43) have been in the downhill, followed by 28 in Super G, five in the combined, four in giant slalom and two in slalom.

Vonn ended her tweet on a positive note.

"I am down but I am NOT out! #nevergiveup."

(Reporting by Andrew Both in Tokyo; Editing by John O'Brien)

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