CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — Lindsey Vonn has declared herself a winner come what may in the last Olympic downhill of her stellar career.
The 41-year-old U.S. great will try and beat the odds of age and injury on her favourite Olimpia della Tofane piste on Sunday, hoping to become the oldest Alpine skiing medalist in Games history.
“Tomorrow one last Olympic downhill run,” she posted on Instagram on Saturday after setting the third-fastest time in final training despite having her left knee in a brace to support a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).
“Just getting to these Olympics has been a journey, and one that some did not believe in from the start,” she continued.
“I retired for six years, and because of a partial knee replacement, I had the chance to compete one more time.”
Vonn said she was in Cortina for the simple love of ski racing and was not in search of meaning, or attention, or money.
She paid tribute to her late mother for teaching her the power of positivity and resilience, and to her father, who will be watching on Sunday, for instilling the importance of hard work and mental toughness.
“I will stand in the starting gate tomorrow and know I am strong,” she wrote.
“Know that I believe in myself. Know that the odds are stacked against me with my age, no ACL, and a titanium knee — but know that I still believe.
“And usually, when the odds are stacked against me the most, I pull the best of what’s inside me out.”
Her coach Axel Lund Svindal has said he thinks Vonn, leader of the World Cup downhill standings with five podium finishes in five races including two wins, can get a medal.
The question of how the speed queen, the second most successful female World Cup racer of all time, might fare has gripped America and ski racing as well as a wider audience intrigued by the pull and passion of an extraordinary comeback story.
“I will race tomorrow in my final Olympic downhill and while I can’t guarantee a good result, I can guarantee I will give it everything I have,” she said.
“But no matter what happens, I have already won.”
Teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, the greatest World Cup racer of them all with a record 108 wins, hailed her compatriot and was one of those counting down the hours to the race.
“Her tenacity and grit in what she’s showing up with in this Olympics, and staying true to her own values, that’s just straight up beautiful,” she told reporters.
“I’m so excited to watch. I trained today and I actually have a recovery day tomorrow so I will be cheering and riveted to the TV. I have 100% belief that anything is possible.”
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
