(Image source from: World Skiing Champion Lindsey Vonn opts out of Sochi Games})

Sochi Games' biggest star attraction - Lindsey Vonn will not return to the slopes for the upcoming winter games. The Olympic downhill champion has decided to stay out of this year's winter games as she is to undergo a knee surgery soon.

A four-times overall World Cup champion and a standout name in women's Alpine skiing, the American sportsperson broke the heart-breaking news on her Facebook page.

"I am devastated to announce I will not be able to compete in Sochi," said Vonn, the 29-year-old girlfriend of world number one golfer Tiger Woods.

"I did everything I possibly could to somehow get strong enough to overcome having no ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) but the reality has sunk in that my knee is just too unstable to compete at this level."

Vonn apparently hurt her right knee in a world championship super-G in February, again while training for the season-opening World Cup downhill at Beaver Creek and the again in Val d'Isere, France.

"After the incident in Val d'Isere an MRI showed an MCL (medial collateral ligament) sprain, which coupled with the torn ACL, has made it impossible to stabilize her knee and be ready to safely ski again next month," Vonn's public relations team said in a statement.

"She will have surgery shortly and is expected to make a full recovery in time for the 2014-15 World Cup season and the 2015 world championship."

AW: Suchorita Dutta Choudhury