It’s a stunning day in Cortina d’Ampezzo, and the conditions look perfect.

A reminder of the Olympia delle Tofane course: it’s 2,572m in length, with a 760m vertical drop, starting altitude of 2,320m and finish altitude of 1,560m. The athletes must go through 36 gates as they rocket down to the bottom.

We are five minutes out from the women’s downhill getting underway in Cortina!

Stay tuned for all the action, including Lindsey Vonn’s run, right here.

Lindsey Vonn may be the big story surrounding this event, but the fact remains that she will have to pull off something of a miracle to get on the podium with a ruptured ACL.

So, we turn our attention to the contenders.

Sofia Gogg joins Vonn as the other former Olympic champions in Cortina, while world champion Breezy Johnson is among the favourites.

Experienced German duo Emma Aicher and Kira Weidle-Winkelmann, second and third in the discipline rankings respectively, are also in with a good shout while Norwegian Kajsa Vickhoff Lie – previously twice on the podium in Cortina -and in-form Austrian Nina Ortlieb lead the outsiders.

Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn is set for an extraordinary return to the slopes for the Winter Games, just days after rupturing an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), with fellow American and former teammate Julia Mancuso declaring such a feat “definitely doable”.

“Normally it happens in the beginning of the season and they have a lot of time to strength train and test it out,” Mancuso, who is the same age as Vonn at 41, shared on Instagram.

“This is going to be unique because she’s going to be testing it in the training runs and we’re going to be watching it and experiencing it live with her.”

Racing without an ACL, relying solely on a brace, “can be very difficult, but it’s definitely doable, especially with no swelling,” Mancuso explained, acknowledging Vonn’s own admission that she would not be the same athlete as before the crash.

“She’s still going to try and do her best,” Mancuso affirmed. “I think we’re going to live that experience with her … hoping she can find the strength to finish the downhill course and hopefully get a good result.”

“I realise the magnitude of the position that I’m in right now,” Lindsey Vonn said.

“And I think the best thing I can do is to do exactly what I said. Stand tall and have hope. And show the world what America is, who we are as people. Because we are more than what’s happening right now.

“I always do my best to make our country proud. And I hope I can do that in these Games.”

• 10.30am–12.50pm: Women’s downhill 🏅

• 1.05pm–2.40pm: Mixed relay 4x6km 🏅

• 11.30am–1pm: Men’s 10km+10km skiathlon 🏅

• 9.05am–11.05am: Mixed doubles round robin
• 1.35pm-3.35pm: Mixed doubles round robin
• 6.05pm–8.05pm: Mixed doubles round robin

• 6.30pm–10.05pm: Team event (pairs free skating, women’s singles free skating, men’s singles free skating) 🏅

• 3.40pm–6.10pm: Women’s preliminary round
• 8.10pm–10.40pm: Women’s preliminary round

• 4pm–6.40pm: Men’s singles runs 3 and 4 🏅

• 8am–10am: Men’s parallel giant slalom qualification, Women’s parallel giant slalom qualification
• 12pm–1.40pm: Men’s parallel giant slalom final 🏅 Women’s parallel giant slalom final 🏅
• 6.30–8.45pm: Women’s snowboard big air qualification

• 3pm–5.20pm: Men’s 5000m 🏅

“We understand politics and we know we don’t operate in a vacuum. But our game is sport. That means keeping sport a neutral ground. A place where every athlete can compete freely, without being held back by the politics or divisions of their governments,” she said.

Of course that statement was in itself political. An emphasis on remaining neutral was the clearest signal yet that Russia could be welcomed back into the Olympic fold, while it was also a non-comment on the continued participation of Israel at the Games, and a conciliatory hand extended to the American organisers of the next Olympics just two years away, despite the US administration’s brutality against its own citizens in Minneapolis.

Protests have broken out in Milan at the role of ICE agents in policing the Games; they are unlikely to have felt calmed by vice president JD Vance’s refusal this week to apologise to the family of Alex Pretti, who was gunned down by federal agents last month. “For what?” was his flippant response.

Lindsey Vonn has forcefully dismissed suggestions from a sports doctor questioning the severity of her recent knee injury, ahead of Sunday’s Olympic downhill race.

“What was the state of her ACL before the crash last week?” sports medicine doctor Brian Sutterer queried. “What she is doing now would not be nearly as surprising in an elite athlete whose knee was already functioning like the ACL was torn at baseline.

“When you hear stories about ‘So and so played for years on a torn ACL’, that’s chronic, meaning the body has time to adapt and retrain muscles to support the knee.”

Vonn, who currently leads the World Cup downhill standings and has secured two victories this season, hit back: “Lol thanks doc. My ACL was fully functioning until last Friday. Just because it seems impossible to you doesn’t mean it’s not possible. And yes, my ACL is 100% ruptured. Not 80% or 50%. It’s 100% gone.”

Lindsey Vonn’s coach, Aksel Lund Svindal, believes the American’s formidable mental strength will be key to overcoming recent injury woes and securing another Olympic medal in Sunday’s women’s downhill event in Cortina.

“She knows she’ll have to push harder tomorrow, because the rest of the girls will, and it’s the Olympic downhill. You’re not going to get away with a medal here unless you push hard,” he said.

“Good enough to win this race, hopefully. But her mental strength, I think that’s why she has won as much as she has.”

Lindsey Vonn was expected to be one of the biggest stars at this year’s events as she has a storied history at the Winter Olympics – dating back to Salt Lake City in 2002, over two decades ago.

She also competed at the Winter Olympics in 2006, 2010 and 2018. In 2010, in Vancouver she took home the gold medal for the women’s Alpine downhill.

Vonn announced her retirement in 2018 and said she would hang up her skis competitively the next year as “Physically, I’ve gotten to the point where it doesn’t make sense…”

Five years later, in 2024, Vonn announced her return to the sport competitively after successful knee replacement surgery.