Vonn Racing Again, Not Up To Full Strength

Vonn's back! After a 2-night stay in the hospital and 11 days off of training because of "out of control" intestinal pain, Lindsey Vonn returned to World Cup racing last Saturday in Aspen, CO. The Olympic gold medalist and four-time champ took on the giant slalom, where she finished 21st.

Still not at her peak, Vonn collapsed from exhaustion after completing her second run of the day. "I didn't have the energy I needed to really be competitive," she told reporters. "It's been a real fight to even be able to race today. I didn't have it."

While in the hospital, doctors feared that Vonn might be suffering from Chron's or another chronic intestinal disease—but ruled many out when she was successfully treated with antibiotics (and hardcore painkillers).

Vonn went into more detail about her "very scary" experience in The Denver Post:

After I got out of the hospital, I was getting tired walking down the hall of my condo, let alone walking up a couple stairs. I had to stop every five steps. I felt like I was 100 years old, and I couldn't even think about skiing.

Even when I got better, it took me a long time to build back into training. I started just walking on the treadmill for 10 minutes. I was getting lightheaded doing everything. It was really hard. I felt like, why did I train all summer, and now I'm like this?

Vonn hopes to improve during her time trials at Lake Louise, but is planning to "just wait and see, because that's all I can do."

Training runs begin Tuesday; the World Cup races officially begin on Friday.