Lindsey Vonn 'hopeful' she can ski again despite ailing knees

Lindsey Vonn isn't quite done yet, and the most successful female World Cup skier in history remains "hopeful" that she can fix her ailing knees after discovering an impact injury to her peroneal nerve.

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After a lot of physical therapy and time to clearly think things through, we have come to some conclusions about my knee. First, we discovered the reason I had so much pain and muscle shut down in Cortina was due to an impact injury to my peroneal nerve. This most likely came from the final jump on the first training run in Cortina, but it's hard to know for sure. After that training run, the pain got progressively worse each day and by Sunday my lower leg was in a lot of pain and my muscles had completely shut down. Now that we know the problem the next issue is fixing it. So far we haven't found a solution and as a result I will not be able to compete in tomorrow's downhill training run. However, since this is a new "injury" per say, I remain hopeful that we can fix it. I'm taking things day by day and we will see what happens. I know that I might not get the ending to my career that I had hoped for, but if there is a chance, I will take it. Thanks for all of the support you have shown me, it helps keep me going. ❤️🙏🏻

A post shared by L I N D S E Y • V O N N (@lindseyvonn) on Jan 23, 2019 at 7:01am PST

The announcement comes three days after Vonn hinted at immediate retirement after failing to finish a super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, citing severe pain in both of her knees.

Vonn, who hadn't raced all season because of a left knee injury, finished no better than ninth in three races in Cortina.

"Now that we know the problem the next issue is fixing it," Vonn said in the post. "So far we haven't found a solution and as a result I will not be able to compete in tomorrow's downhill training run."

Downhill training in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, is scheduled for Thursday and Friday, followed downhill and super-G races this weekend. Vonn will not race in Saturday's downhill, while it remains to be seen if she will take part in Sunday's super-G race, which she can enter without any training runs.

"She just needs some more time," U.S. coach Paul Kristofic told The Associated Press after Thursday's captains' meeting.

Vonn has 82 wins -- most among women -- and four less than overall record-holder Ingemark Stenmark of Sweden.

After Garmisch, her next scheduled competition is the world championships in Are, Sweden, which opens Feb. 5.

Vonn had been planning to retire in December following races in Lake Louise, Alberta, where she has won a record 18 times.