I think in the sport people really respect ea

VAL DISERE, France -- Lindsey Vonn felt her injured right knee give way, and for a moment it looked like her chances for another Olympic gold might be in jeopardy again. Vonn had another scary moment at Saturdays World Cup downhill in Val dIsere, ending up clutching her knee in pain after losing her balance and missing a gate. But she gave a reassuring answer shortly afterward, saying no new damage had been done to the surgically repaired knee, and that her plans for the Sochi Olympics were still intact. "I didnt hurt myself more than Im already hurt," said Vonn, the reigning Olympic downhill champion. "It was a small compression, and it was fully loaded on the right ski and my knee just completely gave out. I tried to pressure the ski again and it gave out again. I had no chance of making that gate, unfortunately." With boyfriend Tiger Woods watching from the bottom of the slope, Vonn skied out after her left ski came up in the air, putting all her weight on the troublesome right leg. The American was clearly distressed after pulling up and looked close to tears as she clutched her knee. Vonn needed surgery in February to reconstruct two knee ligaments after a crash at the world championships, and then partially re-tore one of them in November. She said she will now give herself plenty of rest and expects to race again "probably sometime in January" as she follows a light program before the Olympics. "As much as time as I can give myself to really get as strong as I can, like I said, one maybe two races before the Olympics. Thats it," Vonn said. "Im going to play it safe and race minimal races, so I can get the confidence and the timing and the feeling of racing again. Im really going to be safe and smart as I can." Woods accompanied Vonn to a World Cup race for the first time, wearing light blue jeans, a ski coat, grey ski hat and dark glasses as he stood in the finish area and watched one racer after another go down. "Hes very supportive and its very fun to have him. This is his first World Cup and I think he enjoyed it," Vonn said. "I think he was a little bit more nervous because of my knee. Hes worried about me but hes happy to be here and Im happy to have him." Schedule permitting, shed like for Woods to come watch her in Sochi as well. "Yeah. I love having him around and the more races he can come to the better," Vonn said. "But Im not racing that much this year, unfortunately, so you probably wont see both of us around very much." With his hands stuffed in his pockets, golfs 14-time major champion waited patiently for Vonn, who was the 19th starter. Shortly after Vonn went out, Woods walked away from the finish area as camera crews scrambled to keep up with him. "Just having someone supporting you, always makes me feel better," Vonn said. "I didnt feel any pressure, I had two really good training runs and I felt really confident today and Im just disappointed that my knee didnt hold up like I thought it would." Marianne Kaufmann-Abderhalden of Switzerland won the race for her first career victory, and was also delighted to see Woods there. "Its good for our sport," she said. "Its perfect when we have a lot of prominent people in the finish area." Defending overall champion Tina Maze, who finished second, was surprised when Woods showed up at Fridays pre-race draw. "I noticed that everyone was taking pictures. Then I realized that Tiger was here," she said. "It didnt bring Lindsey much luck today. I feel sorry for her that she didnt finish but I hope she will be back soon. I managed to speak to her, a few words in the finish area. I think in the sport people really respect each other and I have respect for both of them." Vonn has five World Cup wins in Val dIsere and also won two golds at the 2009 world championships -- but those victories all came on two good knees. Earlier this month, the 29-year-old American raced for the first time in 10 months. Still, she was buoyant after finishing only 0.04 seconds behind Dominique Gisin of Switzerland in Thursdays second training run. "The thing is I have no ACL (anterior cruciate ligament). So unless I get surgery theres nothing really magical that I can do thats going to make it better," she said. "I just can get my leg stronger, my muscle stronger and try and support it a little more. But that has a small impact. My knee is loose and its not stable and thats the way its going to be from here on out. I just have to get used to it." She did not regret her decision to race at Val dIsere, one of the most technically demanding slopes on the circuit. "I think Val dIsere was a good place for me to come back to. 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