Lindsey Vonn finished 24th in a lower-level FIS downhill race as she returned from retirement to compete for the first time in nearly six years.

The 40-year-old Vonn is on the comeback trail after stepping away from the sport because of injuries. She wound up 1.44 seconds behind the winning time of 1 minute, 5.79 seconds posted by Mirjam Puchner of Austria. There were 43 racers who competed on a cool but mostly sunny day.

Moments after crossing the finish line, Vonn bent over to catch her breath. She then went over to the crowd to sign autographs and pose for photos before taking the ski lift back up the mountain.

There is a second downhill scheduled for later Saturday and a pair of super-G competitions on Sunday. Vonn is competing in a series of FIS races in an effort to gain the necessary results to lower her ranking so she possibly can enter World Cup events this season.

When she left the sport, Vonn’s 82 World Cup race victories stood as the record for a woman and within reach of the all-time Alpine record of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark.

Motor sports

Norris takes pole, Hamilton 18th at Abu Dhabi GP >> Lando Norris took pole position for the last Formula 1 race of the season alongside teammate Oscar Piastri to put McLaren on the verge of winning the lucrative prize for teams for the first time since 1998.

While Norris couldn’t stop Max Verstappen retaining the drivers’ title, he said winning the constructors’ championship with McLaren means a lot.

“It was hard just to break that barrier of getting close to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull, because for such a long period of time they’ve been the guys who have dominated Formula 1,” he said.

Norris has been with McLaren since his F1 debut in 2019 and didn’t win a race until this year. He said Saturday that he’d had offers over that time from teams that could have given him a shot at winning races earlier, but he wanted to stay and turn around McLaren, one of F1’s most storied teams.

Seven-time F1 champion Hamilton qualified 18th for his last race with Mercedes after a bizarre incident wrecked his final qualifying lap. He’s set to be 16th on the grid Sunday because of other drivers’ penalties.

Mercedes apologizes to Hamilton >> Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff apologized to Lewis Hamilton for a strategy error which cost him as he placed 18th in qualifying for his last race with the Formula 1 team.

Hamilton was among the five drivers eliminated in the first part of Abu Dhabi Grand Prix qualifying after his final lap was ruined by driving over a marker pole which was knocked onto the track by Kevin Magnussen’s car.

Wolff said the team “shouldn’t have been risking so much” by sending Hamilton out late in the session with no room for error.

“We need to apologize to Lewis and everyone in the team who has worked so hard to deliver a great final weekend for him here in Abu Dhabi,” Wolff said.

NBA

Magic’s Wagner tears right oblique >> Franz Wagner stepped up in countless ways for the Orlando Magic when All-Star forward Paolo Banchero tore his oblique.

And now, Wagner has the same injury.

Wagner has a torn right oblique in a crushing blow for a team that survived the loss of Banchero and will play in the NBA Cup quarterfinals — but now will be without their second-leading scorer for at least four weeks and likely longer.

Wagner was hurt in Friday’s loss at Philadelphia. He started each of Orlando’s first 25 games this season, a huge reason why the team is off to a 16-9 start.

Golf

Potgieter takes lead into final round of Nedbank Golf Challenge >> Aldrich Potgieter will enter the final round of the Nedbank Golf Challenge with a three-shot lead as the 20-year-old South African chases a home victory.

Potgieter’s blemish-free 66 on Saturday included four birdies before an eagle on the par-5 14th. He started the third round four shots back at Gary Player Country Club.

Soccer

Pulisic injured >> United States midfielder Christian Pulisic could be out for a few weeks after injuring his right calf with AC Milan.