American skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn has shrugged off her injury concerns and grabbed gold in the women's downhill at Whistler.

The big favourite ahead of the Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Vonn suffered a knock to her shin, which put her participation in jeopardy.

However, she made enough progress and after the event was delayed, she waltzed down the course in a time of one minute, 44.19 seconds.

Team-mate Julia Mancuso took silver with a time of 1min 44.75secs, while Austrian Elisabeth Georgl claimed bronze with her effort of 1:45.65.

Speaking after her success, Vonn said: "This is the best thing that's happened to me in my life. It's awesome.

"When I crossed the finish line and saw my name in first and Julia's second, it was just the coolest thing.

Britain's Chemmy Alcott finished 13th in the event, after which she said: "It's an awesome course, a perfect Olympic course. If you ask any of the girls they want it to be challenging.

"I lost a bit of time at the top in the soft stuff and that affected my run. I think I could have gone quicker but I made a few silly mistakes."