Bravest athletes in the world in my opinion. No other category of athlete literally risks life and limb as routinely as skiers in the speed events. (Climbing involves the highest levels of extreme peril but I feel like it's more of a "feat" than a true sport.)
Not to mention that it seems the majority of world-class skiers have experienced one or more nasty spills in their career, yet they don't quit. They're like, just rebuild my knees and get me into rehab as soon as possible. Truly a different breed.
Really? How many professional skier deaths have there been, ever? I always thought fishing was the most dangerous sport or car racing.
Many professional skiers have died in competition and training.
Also, drivers aren't athletes.
Even if they were, I believe the psychology behind flying down an icy mountain on little slats with no protection requires more bravery than auto racing. Although certainly dangerous, you're still in a steel shell with a seat belt on.
Lindsey’s comeback success was on gliding courses. There is no way she would have won at cortina at the Olympics.
LOL. She literally came back because of where the olympics were being held. She des NOTHING but win and cortina.
I cant for the life of me imagine the mental health disorder these people have to find so many issues with this comeback? Wet blanket disease? She's the oldest to win a race, and 7 years ago she was also the oldest to win a race! Yall can crap on anything.
Craziest stat in sports ever.
Vonn is the oldest at 41 to win a world cup race in downhill (and podium 5 times too)
moaning about someone ruining their Olympic chances at 42yo only proves it is not a sport
it's a pastime for rich people, like golf. Don't go saying golf is a sport. It's a game, like billiards or checkers
I skied with Lindsey as a kid. A season pass was about a hundred bucks, and the club was pretty cheap too. It was a 20 minute drive from home. Cheaper than club soccer.
Linsdey eventually moved to Vail to train, but Kristina Koznick (3x US Olympian w/ 6 WC wins) never left MN. Of course she was a slalom racer; you're never going to learn the speed events in the midwest.
People don't get that skiing is only a rich kids' sport if you have to travel to do it. If you live by the hill, it's way cheaper than (for instance) hockey. An Epic pass is like $1k.
Lindsey’s comeback success was on gliding courses. There is no way she would have won at cortina at the Olympics.
LOL. She literally came back because of where the olympics were being held. She des NOTHING but win and cortina.
I cant for the life of me imagine the mental health disorder these people have to find so many issues with this comeback? Wet blanket disease? She's the oldest to win a race, and 7 years ago she was also the oldest to win a race! Yall can crap on anything.
Craziest stat in sports ever.
Vonn is the oldest at 41 to win a world cup race in downhill (and podium 5 times too)
Nobody has won at 40 (she podiumed at 40)
Nobody has won at 39
Nobody has won at 38
Nobody has won at 37
Nobody has won at 36
Nobody has won at 35
and only recently has someone won at 34.
In Super G, same thing-- her , then someone 34.
I am mildly disappointed that she has not just let the fans know if she has damage or not. She would have had an MR that day im sure. If she's in severe pain but structurally sound she is going. Ive clicked on at lest 10 stories stating there is an "update" and all are updating the the fact that she said she will see.
LOL. She literally came back because of where the olympics were being held. She des NOTHING but win and cortina.
I cant for the life of me imagine the mental health disorder these people have to find so many issues with this comeback? Wet blanket disease? She's the oldest to win a race, and 7 years ago she was also the oldest to win a race! Yall can crap on anything.
Craziest stat in sports ever.
Vonn is the oldest at 41 to win a world cup race in downhill (and podium 5 times too)
Nobody has won at 40 (she podiumed at 40)
Nobody has won at 39
Nobody has won at 38
Nobody has won at 37
Nobody has won at 36
Nobody has won at 35
and only recently has someone won at 34.
In Super G, same thing-- her , then someone 34.
I am mildly disappointed that she has not just let the fans know if she has damage or not. She would have had an MR that day im sure. If she's in severe pain but structurally sound she is going. Ive clicked on at lest 10 stories stating there is an "update" and all are updating the the fact that she said she will see.
i don't know if she revealed it but there are news articles she tore her left ACL. my experience with such things she'd have some pain and swelling for weeks, ie, longer than she has before her race(s).
the way US skiing works, you make the "team" to go to the Games on recent performances and rank, but then the "team" picks who does what from that list. some athletes are speed or technical specialists, people have their strengths, and they seem to try to get everyone rostered "something," even if it's the team slalom H2H racing.
i would be curious if she gets more than one event, considering she's compromised.
i would be curious if that event is done full speed. ie whether it's an effective victory lap. you'll see some retiring skiiers on the circuit slowly coast down the mountain in a costume. may not try to make the gates. just one last honorary trip down the hill.
that being said, vonn personally is tough as heck and probably goes out on her feet. i think her last worlds before her knee replacement (other leg), she just went down the mountain in pain hoping to finish. she might prefer to risk another brave? stupid? "yard sale" finish into the net, to try to finish this last olympics in normal competitive fashion.
i would then hope US skiing shifted her to something like the GS or super G instead of the full downhill.
elaborating on "one event," she's done well this season, yes, but she's hurt and that would be my idea of tough and health centered but recognizing her season and her history. some teams would say at this point even one race is a competitive compromise -- why am i running you and not someone with a chance. even with her history. being present- or future-focused. to me if she insists on a trip, for ceremony or to take some risk she can get down competitively, ok, on history, we'll carve you out one race. not going to send an injured person down the hill 3 more times to risk it. and it's not fair to the healthy ones to turn the games into some elaborate vonn show when she's not even well and likely poor competition.
I am mildly disappointed that she has not just let the fans know if she has damage or not. She would have had an MR that day im sure. If she's in severe pain but structurally sound she is going. Ive clicked on at lest 10 stories stating there is an "update" and all are updating the the fact that she said she will see.
i don't know if she revealed it but there are news articles she tore her left ACL. my experience with such things she'd have some pain and swelling for weeks, ie, longer than she has before her race(s).
the way US skiing works, you make the "team" to go to the Games on recent performances and rank, but then the "team" picks who does what from that list. some athletes are speed or technical specialists, people have their strengths, and they seem to try to get everyone rostered "something," even if it's the team slalom H2H racing.
i would be curious if she gets more than one event, considering she's compromised.
i would be curious if that event is done full speed. ie whether it's an effective victory lap. you'll see some retiring skiiers on the circuit slowly coast down the mountain in a costume. may not try to make the gates. just one last honorary trip down the hill.
that being said, vonn personally is tough as heck and probably goes out on her feet. i think her last worlds before her knee replacement (other leg), she just went down the mountain in pain hoping to finish. she might prefer to risk another brave? stupid? "yard sale" finish into the net, to try to finish this last olympics in normal competitive fashion.
i would then hope US skiing shifted her to something like the GS or super G instead of the full downhill.
Well, now being reported as acl rupture which is what i figured the way she just sort of slid. Or meniscus? She will no doubt brace up and go all out. It's downhill, i can sort of see her bracing up enough to just send it. She's built like brick $*%#-house and heavier than her rivals, not to mention better and not risk averse. I like her chances. Super G not so much.
We now know that limit of what you can do on a knee replacement, now we will find out what an acl tear can do.
How well can she ski with a ruptured ACL, even with a brace?
Are we going to see her slowly start down a run hoping for the best, but stop and wihdraw before the first turn, just so she can say she fulfilled her dream of coming back to 'be an Olympian'?
The US Olympic ski team does select designated alternates, and they can be named to replace a skier that becomes injured before the Olympics start.
I would guess that she starts a run and gives it a go but then ends her run early, similar to a US Olympic marathoner. But US media have built Vonn up as a big story competing in a marquee event prior to the games ( unlike that marathoner). So we will get full and detailed coverage of her tragic injury and how brave she is to try to ski on a badly damaged knee.
How well can she ski with a ruptured ACL, even with a brace?
Are we going to see her slowly start down a run hoping for the best, but stop and wihdraw before the first turn, just so she can say she fulfilled her dream of coming back to 'be an Olympian'?
The US Olympic ski team does select designated alternates, and they can be named to replace a skier that becomes injured before the Olympics start.
I would guess that she starts a run and gives it a go but then ends her run early, similar to a US Olympic marathoner. But US media have built Vonn up as a big story competing in a marquee event prior to the games ( unlike that marathoner). So we will get full and detailed coverage of her tragic injury and how brave she is to try to ski on a badly damaged knee.
She can do it. Skiing relies more on the MCL than the ACL. Vonn has incredibly strong quads & hamstrings. That along with a functional hinged brace, think the knee braces that you see NFL linemen wearing, will give her knee plenty of stabilization. That brace is essentially going to supplant the work of the ACL.
Also, as bigmig mentioned, Vonn is a big woman. I had heard somewhere at some point that her racing weight is somewhere around 180 pounds. That is a very muscular 180. That weight and muscle helps her and gives her an advantage over many of her competitors.
She also has ice in her veins when it comes to nerves. She is essentially fearless and is willing to take risks. That said, big risks can have big rewards or big consequences.
If Vonn doesn’t crash out I see her medaling with a gold not out of the question.
moaning about someone ruining their Olympic chances at 42yo only proves it is not a sport
it's a pastime for rich people, like golf. Don't go saying golf is a sport. It's a game, like billiards or checkers
Every village kid is learning to ski where I grew up, alpine skiing is our national sport. Does Bekele’s running world class times at 42 make marathon a petit bourgeois game?
I agree with you about golf being a rich people pastime.
Golf used to be a game that was really only available to the upper class. However, that has changed drastically. there is a large focus on lower income families, with many programs for children in inner cities. We are already seeing some young men and women who stuck with it, from low income families, become somewhat sccessfull.
And, this sport teaches more than the game itself. Many of the expectations of a competitor during a round of golf are actually not rules. Such as talking during a back swing, walking on someone's line on the green, yelling "fore", replacing a divot., etc. The game of golf, teaches many values outside of the game itself.
How well can she ski with a ruptured ACL, even with a brace?
Are we going to see her slowly start down a run hoping for the best, but stop and wihdraw before the first turn, just so she can say she fulfilled her dream of coming back to 'be an Olympian'?
The US Olympic ski team does select designated alternates, and they can be named to replace a skier that becomes injured before the Olympics start.
I would guess that she starts a run and gives it a go but then ends her run early, similar to a US Olympic marathoner. But US media have built Vonn up as a big story competing in a marquee event prior to the games ( unlike that marathoner). So we will get full and detailed coverage of her tragic injury and how brave she is to try to ski on a badly damaged knee.
Literally first test run on the knee, clearly being conservative and still ran 11th fastest! She has so many built in advantages. Don't be surprised by a podium.
Literally first test run on the knee, clearly being conservative and still ran 11th fastest! She has so many built in advantages. Don't be surprised by a podium.