Picabo is back! The 1998 Olympic super G champion rejoined the World Cup tour Wednesday in the third super G race of the season — along with some of her closest friends on the tour, Austria's Alexandra Meissnitzer and Sweden's Pernilla Wiberg.

All three racers, some of the most brilliant stars on the circuit, suffered various injuries in the past years. Street shattered her left femur and shredded her right knee ligaments in March 1998 during the World Cup finals in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, and had to overcome a painful rehabilitation. She had not skied competitively since that horrific crash. She was scheduled to return two weeks ago at Aspen, but she had to postpone after another minor knee operation 2 weeks ago.

"The only reason I came back was to compete in Salt Lake and win a medal or two — otherwise there were better things I could do with my time."

The Olympic and World Champion cautiously launched from the start and finished an encouraging 34th.

But while the time off might have temporarily dulled some of the American skier's skills, it was soon evident that 29-year-old Street's brashness has survived as she boldly predicted she hopes to add more medals to her collection.

In the first moments back in the start gate, it was an emotional return to action for the US veteran. Tears of relief streamed down her cheeks after she completed her comeback race, crossing more than two seconds behind the winning Frenchwoman Regine Cavagnoud.

"I was just so nervous; so many things were going through my mind today - so many memories, good and bad," said Street, her voice cracking after an emotional embrace with Wiberg, who was also making her season's debut after coming back from a knee injury.

"I felt like I was racing my first World Cup race when I was a teenager," she continued. "It was tough. I felt a little out of place. There are so many new faces around me, but when I got in the start, I had some cameras near me and thought, 'Okay, this is what I remember.'"

She said she wanted to ski aggressively but just didn't have the confidence. She just wanted to finish, her goal here in Val d'Isère.

"I'm just glad the first one is over. There's just been so much time that I've been waiting for this day. During my run down the mountain, I had some good vibrations. I realized that I have missed it a lot, and that I was right in coming back once more. Ski racing is a great sport and I want to live many more good moments."

"I'm just glad the first one is over."

It has been a long, painful journey for Street, who had her femur pieced together with eight screws and suffered through six operations on her battered leg - the last just 17 days ago. Her "take no prisoners" style has brought the fearless American equal amounts of fame and pain.

In 1998, she came back from a knee injury to stun the pundits by taking super G gold medal in Nagano. Six weeks later, she was in a Swiss hospital struggling to come to grips with the most devastating injury of her career.

"This was the most difficult one because I had so many surgeries," said Street. "The first one was the big one, and then I had five more. It's a long time to have questions about how your body is going to be. Sometimes it's hard to risk everything and put all that out of your mind," she explained.

Throughout her career, Street has proven capable of backing up her boasts winning World Cup downhill titles in 1996 and 1995. In 1996, she also won the gold at the World Championships in Spain.

Here in Val d'Isere, it was an unfamiliar World Cup atmosphere that greeted Street upon her return, with new faces, new equipment and new teammates.

But one thing that hasn't changed is Street's irrepressible desire to be first. "The only reason I came back was to compete in Salt Lake and win a medal or two," said Street. "Otherwise there were better things I could do with my time. But I've always set my goals really high. I think I expect more than my coaches do. I just need more time."

"Now that I've had a race, started and finished a race, I will remember more of the old me in the downhill. I'll look to strike in the top-15 in St. Moritz next week. Then, I may train a little on the Olympic course at Snowbasin before returning to Europe in January."

Thanks Peek: never a dull moment with you.

— Patrick Lang, World Cup Correspondent

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