Alpine skiing-Injured Vonn cleared to race in Aspen

VANCOUVER (Reuters) - Overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn was given the all-clear by U.S. team doctors on Wednesday to race in the Aspen this weekend.

Vonn, who got the new season off to a sizzling start with her first career slalom win in Levi, Finland, had looked likely to miss the only World Cup races on home snow after bruising her knee in a training crash last week.

But a scan revealed the injury was not too serious and the 23-year-old will compete in World Cup giant slalom and slalom races on Saturday and Sunday.

"For a while it was looking pretty grim that I might have to have surgery but thankfully after an MRI it turned out that I would only be on crutches for a few days," Vonn told reporters during a teleconference on Wednesday.

"I'm not doing nearly as many runs as I would like to do because I don't want to re-injure it.

"I'm still a little nervous because I don't know what it exactly is going to feel like. Racing, I'm just going to go for it no matter what."

A speed specialist, Vonn has excelled in the technical events this season.

After a ninth-place finish in the opening giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, she produced a shock slalom victory in Levi, becoming the first American woman to win in four separate World Cup disciplines.

The only alpine discipline Vonn has failed to score a victory in remains giant slalom and she would love nothing more than to achieve it in front of her home crowd.

"The reason I decided to race this weekend is because it is the only race in America," said Vonn. "I really want to compete in the U.S. especially since my success in Levi I really feel I have things to accomplish in the slalom in Aspen."

(Writing by Steve Keating in Detroit; Editing by Ed Osmond))