When Lindsey Vonn said that she that she was ready to compete in the Winter Olympics just a week after suffering a devastating knee injury, she wasn’t kidding.
The U.S. alpine skiing icon – who suffered a torn ACL in her left knee on Jan. 30 – took to the slopes again on Saturday morning in Cortina d’Ampezzo for the final training run before Sunday’s downhill final.
She didn’t disappoint either, finishing with the third-best time out of the 21 competitors who opted for the final tune-up.
Vonn’s time of 1:38.28 was 0.37 seconds behind American teammate Breezy Johnson but, more importantly, it was a big improvement over her time of 1:40.33 in her training run on Friday, her first official outing since suffering the injury.
After the finishing up, Vonn was short and sweet in her comments to the Associated Press, telling the outlet it was “all good.”
Vonn suffered a completely torn ACL in her left knee – among other injuries – during a World Cup race in Switzerland on Jan. 30 and is competing with a large brace on her knee at the Games.
What did Vonn say on Instagram?
Vonn has been active on social media, sharing updates from her training and from the hills.
Before her run on Saturday, she posted pictures from her Friday outing with an inspirational message.
https://www.instagram.com/p/DUcjxoYiKEw/?hl=en&img_index=1
“First training solid run and feeling good. One step at a time,” she captioned the post. “Today we have another training run at 11:30am and I’m bib #15. See you there.”
She has no shortage of supporters on social media, either. Vonn has reshared several “Believe” posts with her picture on her Instagram, including stories from several notable athletes and celebrities such as Demi Moore, Reese Witherspoon and Gwyneth Paltrow.
Can Vonn win gold?
While Vonn obviously believes in herself, betting sites apparently do as well. She has the second-best odds to win the downhill race (+375 on DraftKings, per Sports Illustrated) behind Italian favourite Sofia Goggia (+175), who won the event at the 2018 Games in Beijing.
Vonn’s press conference proclamation
On Tuesday, the 41 year old addressed her status for the Games, saying she will do everything she can to compete despite the injury.
“I’m still here. I think I’m still able to fight. I think I’m still able to try. And I will try as long as I have the ability to, I will not go home regretting not trying,” Vonn told reporters. “I will do everything in my power to be in that starting gate.”
Vonn also shared that she had tested out her knee earlier in the day by going skiing and that it feels stable and strong. She also said she is not in pain and that her knee is not swollen.
“This is not, obviously, what I had hoped for,” she said. “I’ve been working really hard to come into these Games in a much different position. I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today, but I know there’s still a chance, and as long as there’s a chance, I will try.”
What is Vonn’s Olympic history?
Vonn has competed in four previous Winter Olympics, starting with her debut at the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City.
She has won three medals during her Olympic career – a gold and bronze in Vancouver 2010 and another bronze in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018.
During the press conference, she said her main goal is to compete in the downhill and that she will make decisions on the team combined and super-G following that event.
“Considering how my knee feels,” Vonn said, “I feel stable, I feel strong, my knee is not swollen, and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete on Sunday.”
What is the full extent for her injury?
While Vonn said that she suffered a ruptured ACL during her press conference, the skier revealed the full extent to her injury on Instagram late Tuesday.
According to her post, Vonn completely tore her left ACL while further injuries to her knee may have been suffered on previous occasions.
“I completely tore my ACL last Friday,” she wrote in her post. “I also sustained a bone bruise (which is a common injury when you tear your ACL), plus meniscal tears but it’s unclear how much of that was there previously and what was new from the crash.”