The nine days—and 13 seconds—that sent Lindsey Vonn’s Olympics up in snow
Subscribe to enjoy similar stories. CORTINA D’AMPEZZO , ITALY : Lindsey Vonn leaned into the gate on Sunday, staring down at a Cortina downhill course that she knew by heart. She took a deep breath and stomped her skis.
In her right knee was a titanium implant where the 41-year-old joint had been partly rebuilt. On her left knee was a brace, holding it together despite a freshly torn ACL. When she heard the beep to start, Vonn dug her pink ski poles into the snow and set off on a run that already ranked as one of the most audacious in Olympic history.
It would last all of 13 seconds. Depending on whom you ask, Vonn’s appearance at the start line was either a defiant show of championship mentality from one of the greatest downhill skiers of all time—or a hopelessly ill-advised Hail Mary from an athlete who had suffered a devastating crash only nine days earlier. “Ski racers, especially at Lindsey’s level," former U.S.
Ski team physician Kevin Stone said, “are not normal human beings." Before the season began, Vonn had promised not to take any unnecessary risks while she mounted her comeback—except once it came to the Olympics. At that point, she told former ski racer and NBC analyst Steve Porino, all bets would be off. “‘I will leave nothing to chance," he remembered her saying.
“And it will be all-in.’" If Vonn was racing more conservatively in recent months, it was impossible to tell. She soared to the top of the World Cup downhill standings and aimed to keep racking up points all the way to the Games. That’s why Vonn was even racing on Jan.
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