But the injury casts doubt over whether she will be able to compete and Vonn admitted just reaching the start gate on Sunday would be “a pretty good comeback if I can pull it off”.
“This is not an unknown for me, I’ve done this before. I wish I wasn’t in this position but I am and I will do my best,” she said.
“I will not go home regretting not trying, I will do everything in my power to be in that starting gate.”
Vonn said she skied in Cortina on Tuesday and that her knee felt good with no pain but that she will not know for certain how she feels until she skis the downhill course.
“I know what my knee has felt like with previous injuries in the gym and what it has felt like in all the physical tests and I can say that I feel a lot better right now than I have in the past,” she said.
She added she will take things “day by day” and does not know if she will be able to compete in the team and Super-G events, which take place on 10 and 12 February respectively.
Vonn was skiing in the downhill event at the Alpine Ski World Cup in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Friday when she lost control coming out of a jump.
She says along with the ACL tear she also has bruising and meniscus damage.
The event was eventually cancelled because of adverse weather conditions, with Vonn the third skier to crash.
Vonn’s illustrious career, which has included one gold medal and two bronze at the Olympics – has been plagued by injury but she is undaunted by her task in Cortina being made more difficult.
“I am a week away for something I never thought was possible. This is all icing on the cake. I never expected to be here,” she said.
“I felt like this was an amazing opportunity to close out my career in a way that I wanted to – it hasn’t gone exactly the way I wanted it to but I don’t want any regrets.
“I am going to do it – end of story. I am not letting myself go down that path – I am not crying, my head is high, I’m standing tall and I’m going to do my best and whatever the result is, that is what it is.”
