DENVER (AP) – Lindsey Vonn won’t allow a suspected sprained MCL in her left knee to sideline her season.

The U.S. skier has competed in pain before, winning the downhill at the Vancouver Olympics last winter on a badly bruised shin.

But trailing in the standings remains quite foreign. Vonn sits 145 points behind friend and rival Maria Riesch of Germany, a gap that Vonn’s convinced she can still make up.

Vonn suffered her knee injury trying to recover from a big mistake in a downhill race last Saturday, only to return the next day and win a super-G event.

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