Olympics: Lindsey Vonn happy to be back on the snow

VANCOUVER — Despite suffering what she has called the "most painful injury" of her career, Lindsey Vonn managed to make it to the downhill course in Whistler Thursday morning on skis.

Vonn inspected the course with her U.S. teammates and then skied down the hill. She was not able to actually complete a training run because training was canceled after just two women attempted to train on the hill that was shrouded in fog, rain and snow most of the day.

Vonn usually relishes the chance to hit the slopes, but she was grateful for the opportunity to rest her aching shin.

"I was happy to be back on snow today," said Vonn. "My shin was still very painful, but I feel like the injury is finally progressing a bit. I am always disappointed when a training run is canceled, but in this situation I definitely welcome the extra day to heal."

The training was scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. but was delayed about a half hour. Visibility improved for a short time, in which Italy's Lucia Recchia was able to complete the day's only run for the women.

Stacey Cook, Mammoth, Calif., followed Recchia in training but fell after the top jump and was airlifted to a hospital in Whistler. She was later released, and although sore from the crash, was expected to be back training on Friday.

Thursday's training was finally cancelled about 11:30 a.m.

The men, however, were able to get their training runs completed. Bode Miller was the fastest American, finishing ninth, while Andrew Weibrecht was 11th. Park City's Ted Ligety was 28th and Sundance's Steven Nyman was 29th.

"Considering the fog and having to wait up top for so long in the soft, wet snow, I felt like I skied pretty well," Ligety said. "I'm just getting more comfortable on it," he said. "Yesterday was a total surprise, I had no idea how turny it really was." Nyman said his run was smoother and cleaner than Wednesday's, and he had better direction off the jumps.

The women were looking forward to skiing on Friday morning, although more rain and snow was forecasted for Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

In a press conference the day before her first training run at Creekside, Vonn said she wasn't sure she'd be able to train or compete at all because the pain was so severe.