Lindsey Vonn is widely condemned for her accident online. Completely unjustified: She is an exceptional athlete and deserves recognition.
M Ski racer Lindsey Vonn has been on the podium after tournaments more than 100 times. Even with a knee replacement, she was still one of the best. In 2011 she was named World Athlete of the Year. She is a world champion, overall World Cup and Olympic champion. Nevertheless, Vonn is currently receiving gloating and criticism online because she competed in the Olympic Games after tearing her cruciate ligament at the end of January and broke her leg.
The sports show publishes its fall as Reel on Instagram. You can see it falling three times: in real time, in close-up, in slow motion. Who, apart from gawkers who would stop and stare at a car accident, benefits from such a portrayal of a female athlete? Those who edited this for clicks are making an exceptional athlete the target of ridicule and malice with such posts. In the comments under the short video she is condemned as “irresponsible”. It’s her own fault, someone writes. What happens when you don’t listen to your body is that someone else is underneath you YouTube-Video her accident. She is called stupid and accused of false ambition.
Despite her many accidents, Vonn’s lifestyle of exercise and healthy eating is probably healthier than that of many people who are currently judging her from their couch. If Vonn had acted as part of the internet crowd subsequently advised her, she would never have gotten this far in sport. Many of those who are currently mocking Vonn clearly don’t even begin to understand the athlete’s attitude. Vonn skis out of passion and love for skiing and has been doing so for almost 40 years – she is 41 and learned to ski when she was two.
Her father found more appropriate words as the gloating people online: “Unfortunately, it wasn’t her day.” Because when Vonn was injured 20 years ago and took part in the Olympic Games despite the pain, she made it into the top 10 in two disciplines. She was awarded the US Olympic Spirit Award for this: for her will. That is the image this exceptional athlete deserves.
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