Vonn turns in top Olympic training run

"It's the bumpiest course I have ever skied," said the American superstar, who is trying to overcome a bruised shin to uphold her role as downhill favorite.

"It's definitely not good for my leg."

The training runs were the first on the women's downhill course. The athletes had two such runs Monday, one before and one after the men's downhill event that was won by Didier Defago of Switzerland.

International Skiing Federation rules require each competitor be allowed at least one training run before an event is contested and poor conditions on the slopes of Whistler Mountain have delayed that training. The women's downhill is scheduled for Wednesday.

Vonn has won five of the six downhill races held on the World Cup circuit this year and leads the overall World Cup standings. Her status for the Olympics, however, came in question last week when she revealed the shin bruise.

Those concerns seemed to go away Monday when she turned in a time of 1:30.75 in her first run. Fellow-American Julia Mancuso had the second fastest time. Vonn had only the 20th fastest time in the second training run.

"I was honestly surprised," Vonn said of her first effort. "I almost went out of the course a couple times. It wasn't bad skiing. It was just fighting to make it down skiing.

"It's not a feel-good course. It's not a fun course. It's a stick your nose in it and make it down course. If you're aggressive and not sliding, you'll be fast. I know what I have to do. I know how to ski. It's just fighting the pain."

Copyright 2010 United Press International, Inc. (UPI)