Schladming, Austria – A day after suffering a season-ending injury during the opening women’s super G of the FIS Alpine Ski World Championships in Schladming, Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn remained optimistic about her return for the 2014 Olympic season.

Vonn was evaluated and released from a Schladming hospital after the crash and was already making plans to return to Colorado for surgery to repair a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and medial collateral ligament (MCL), as well as a fractured tibial plateau.

“First off I want to say thank you to the amazing medical staff that cared for me. I plan on returning to Vail as soon as I can to have the necessary surgeries,” Vonn said. “I am also grateful to my fans for the outpouring of support, which has really helped me stay positive. I can assure you that I will work as hard as humanly possible to be ready to represent my country next year in Sochi.”

Speaking after winning the men’s World Championships super G in Schladming on Wednesday, American ski racer Ted Ligety said of Vonn’s mishap, “That’s a part of ski racing and if you let it get to you, you have no chance in ski racing. You’re bummed out for her but you just have to move on from that and know she’ll be back strong next year. As a ski racer, you can’t let that affect you.”