It would have in the best case scenario a heroine epic should be. Olympic victory with a torn cruciate ligament at the age of 41. Best material for a Hollywood film. But for Lindsey Vonn, Sunday’s Olympic women’s downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo ended with another chapter in her drama-filled career – it was probably the last. But you never know with this woman.
After just 14 seconds on the Olimpia delle Tofane, her dream of a second Olympic gold was over, destroyed in the snow on the slope that she had mastered like no other in her career. She had previously achieved twelve victories there. Lindsey Vonn, the stand-up woman of skiing, got stuck on the gate, took off, spun in mid-flight and crashed into the slope. You could hear them screaming over the outside microphones on the track, primarily from pain, but there was certainly also anger and disappointment.
Lindsey Vonn started as one of the last of the big favorites, only the Italian Sofia Goggia came after her and ended up with bronze. It was led by teammate Breezy Johnson, who had already become world champion at the World Championships in Saalbach a year ago, in front of Emma Aicher. The young German didn’t have a perfect run and was still only four hundredths of a second slower than the American. The 22-year-old secured Germany’s first downhill medal at the Olympic Games in 18 years, when Katja Seizinger won gold. “It’s really cool,” said Aicher on ZDF. “I’m never really nervous, but at the finish line I was extremely nervous, I was really pissing myself off.”
Maybe Vonn felt that just going downhill, like in previous World Cup races, wouldn’t be enough to win this time. She had to risk more – and ended up risking too much. It is quite possible that the mishap would not have happened to her if the cruciate ligament had been intact because then her left knee would have been able to withstand the pressure better.
Departure again in the helicopter
Unlike nine days ago, when Vonn skied down the mountain herself after her fall in Crans Montana and only then had herself flown by helicopter to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a torn cruciate ligament in her left knee, this time she stayed lying down. He came and then flew over the finish area and the stands with Vonn on board. Below, the audience clapped, especially the American fans who had previously celebrated Breezy Johnson. It was the perfect ending to a career.
“I won’t let my dreams shatter,” Lindsey Vonn said a few days ago. She later wrote on Instagram: “I firmly believe in what is possible.” Becoming an Olympic champion with a torn cruciate ligament. She ignored the fact that a start entailed certain risks. Like the advice from doctors or trainers a few times before. Why all this? “I just love ski racing,” she wrote in a post shortly before the descent.
Lindsey Vonn has often tempted fate. Vonn has always mastered a bit of drama, stacking things deep so that when things turn out differently, he can make the success seem even greater. It’s part of their production. Nobody knows how to attract everyone’s attention as well as she does, especially before very important races. And for Americans, those are primarily the Olympic Games.
In Turin 2006, she fell during downhill training and then went into the race feeling weak. Vonn, who was still called Kildow at the time, came away empty-handed. Four years, two World Championship titles and two overall World Cup victories later, before the Winter Games in Vancouver, she suffered a bruised shoe edge. It was actually very painful, but relatively harmless compared to her current cruciate ligament tear. In a press conference, she explained in detail how she planned to combat the pain (curd wraps and painkillers) and let it be known that her chances of winning a medal were no longer very good. A few days later she was Olympic champion.
It might have been too much if history had repeated itself 16 years later. Even for Lindsey Vonn, who was always capable of anything in her skiing career.