Lindsey Vonn considering giving up slalom to focus on speed

Lindsey Vonn's days of competing in all five ski disciplines might be behind her, since the four-time overall World Cup champion is seriously considering giving up slalom in her comeback from a ­career-threatening knee injury.

The 30-year-old American racer thinks she is still somewhat off the pace in speed events, despite clinching her first victory in nearly two years in a downhill at Lake Louise, Canada, on Dec. 7.

The 2010 Olympic downhill champion thinks ditching slalom might help her cause to become the No. 1 speed racer again.

"I definitely plan on doing [giant slalom], but I want to focus on the speed races right now," Vonn said Thursday ahead of a downhill and super-G in the French resort of Val d'Isere. "I don't know if I'll do slalom again. It's difficult starting in the back. But we'll see. I haven't skied slalom since my injuries, so I don't know how it feels yet."

Vonn's previous World Cup victory was in GS on Jan. 26, 2013, in Maribor, Slovenia, and she has raced only seven races since.

Less than two months after that victory, she injured her right knee in a heavy fall at the world championships.

Desperate to get back in time for the Sochi Games, she partially tore one of the reconstructed ligaments in a training crash in Copper Mountain, Colorado.

"I'm in a much different position this year than I was last year," Vonn said. "I have a healthy knee finally. So I'm looking forward to the races this weekend and hopefully the conditions will be good."

It has been a big month.

Racing downhill for the first time since hurting her knee again in Val d'Isere, Vonn finished eighth at Lake Louise and grabbed a second-place finish in super-G to go with her downhill triumph.

"I wasn't expecting to be as fast as I was in Lake Louise. The first race, being eighth place was about what I expected," she said. "But I learned a lot from the first race and tried to improve, and both the second downhill and the super-G were good performances."

Still, she thinks she can do much better.

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