Ahead of the women's alpine skiing downhill at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics, on the 7th at the Tofane Alpine Ski Center in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Lindsey Vonn smiles slightly after finishing a run during official training. AFP

Veteran alpine ski star Lindsey Vonn (41) is pressing ahead with an Olympic downhill start despite a complete anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tear, mounting a bid for gold.

On the 7th (local time) at Olympia delle Tofane in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Vonn completed both of her runs in the official downhill training for the Winter Olympics. She returned to the snow just a week after being transported to a hospital with an ACL tear following a collision during a World Cup event in Switzerland.

According to the BBC, former Olympic skier Chemmy Alcott said, "Vonn is an iconic, superhuman athlete, and she is putting everything on this race," evaluating it as "a choice that puts even her life on the line." Alcott added, "While managing the load on her left leg, she is still fast," and, "With two training runs going well, the signal of 'I can do it' will have been clearly delivered to the athlete herself."

Vonn posted the third-fastest time in the second training run of the day. As she showed competitiveness even amid delays caused by worsening weather, various interpretations arose over the seriousness of her injury. In response, Vonn directly refuted sports medicine physician Brian Sutterer's claim suggesting a "preexisting ACL injury." Through her social media, Vonn stated, "Until last Friday, my ACL was functioning completely normally," and, "Just because it seems impossible doesn't mean it is impossible. The ACL is not 80% or 50% torn - it is 100% completely torn."

Sutterer explained, "If there is a past tear or a history of surgery, swelling and pain may be less with a repeat injury," adding, "If it is a chronic injury, the body may have adapted to support the knee through muscle retraining." Vonn's coach Aksel Lund Svindal said, "As the snow surface has firmed up, the sensations transmitted through the skis have changed completely," and added, "After the run, she didn't mention the knee at all, and I actually took that as a good sign." He continued, "I expect her physical readiness to be at a level where she can contend for the win, but above all, her greatest strengths are her mentality and experience."

Vonn has finalized her decision to enter the downhill, while her participation in the super-G and the team event has not yet been decided.