U.S. Olympic Skier Lindsay Vonn Returns to Training on Thursday

Despite experiencing continued discomfort in her right shin, U.S. Olympic skier Lindsay Vonn opted to return to practice on Thursday morning after carefully inspecting the course at Whistler Creek in British Columbia. According to The New York Times, a spokesman for the United States ski team revealed that Vonn felt comfortable with course after inspection and she chose to glide down the course on skis.

Vonn confirmed on her Twitter page that her right shin injury, which she sustained on Tuesday, February 2 while racing in Austria, is continuing to give her problems. She tweeted, “So I took a bunch of pain killers and numbed my shin with some creams. Warm up was still very painful but I think it was good enough to give it a shot in the training run.”

Vonn is arguably the most high profile athlete who is scheduled to compete in the 2010 Olympic Games and her popularity has continued to grow in recent weeks in anticipation of the Olympics. Vonn is featured in the 2010 Sports Illustrated swimsuit issue and NBC has placed a tremendous amount of effort into marketing her for their broadcasts.

The New York Times is reporting that Vonn is a strong contender in five separate events and she is considered to be the favorite in three Alpine skiing events. However, she is unsure as to whether or not she will be forced to withdraw from a few, or all, of the events due to her right shin injury.