VAL d'ISERE, France (Feb. 11) - Double World Champion Lindsey Vonn (Vail, CO) will miss Thursday's giant slalom at the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Val d'Isere to allow more time for injured thumb to heal. She is hopeful to start in Saturday's slalom, the final women's event of the Championships.
 

Vonn cut her thumb Monday after winning her second gold medal. She had surgery at Privatklinik Hochrum Tuesday in Austria and returned to Val d'Isere on Wednesday.

 

"Lindsey will take the day to test out a few of the splints that were built specifically for her right hand and if everything feels right, we'll move directly into training slalom on Friday," said Head Coach Jim Tracy.

 

"I'm incredibly thankful for the care I've had over the last two days," said Vonn, who won the super G and downhill gold medals earlier in Val d'Isere. "Red Bull flew me to Innsbruck and the surgery went perfectly, then we spent nearly a full day working with Martin Galler to build specific splints to help me grip my pole without impact. [Husband] Thomas [Vonn]and Dr. Jeff [Harrison, U.S. Ski Team Physician] were with me for the entire process. We'll see how things go the next few days, but I'm hoping to race slalom."

 

The U.S. Ski Team will start three athletes in Thursday's giant slalom including Olympic GS champion Julia Mancuso (Olympic Valley, CA), Sarah Schleper (Vail, CO) and Megan McJames (Park City, UT).

 

"Jules set her focus to the GS and she's been training well the last two days," said Tracy. "Megan and Sarah arrived Monday from Veysonnaz, Switzerland where they were training on hard injected snow, just like we have here. Before that they were training on injection in Kirchberg, Austria. They've had the proper preparation and have all the tools to put it together on race day." 

UniversalSports.com will provide live Webcasting, with same-day coverage on Universal Sports TV. The first run is scheduled for 4:00 am ET and second run at 6:30 am ET. NBC Sports will provide a wrapup highlight show this Sunday.