Vonn to retire after 201819 season
NEW YORK: Lindsey Vonn, widely regarded as the greatest female ski racer of alltime, will retire from competition following the 201819 season even if she fails to break the record for World Cup wins, the American said yesterday.
The 33yearold holds the women’s record of 82 world cup wins and trails only Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark’s longstanding mark of 86.
‘‘This is going to be my last season. Definitely retiring after this year,’’ Vonn said.
‘‘If I could break the record that would be amazing. Iif I can’t it has been a great ride and I am still the most successful female and I still think that’s something to be really proud of.
Since first tearing her ACL in 2007, Vonn has suffered frequent knee ligament injuries as well as broken bones. She missed the 2014 Sochi Games due to a serious knee injury which she has been managing ever since.
The Minnesotaborn skier had said at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics that she would not quit until she beat Stenmark’s record.
‘‘I am hoping that is just one season. I am not going to quit until I get that record, that is for sure, no matter how much pain I am in,’’ Vonn said in February.
‘‘But I really hope it only takes one more season because it would be difficult for me to continue on after that.’’
Vonn, who became the oldest women’s alpine skier to win an Olympic medal when she picked up a downhill bronze in South Korea earlier this year, has also stated her desire to test herself against her male counterparts.
Vonn, who began skiing at the age of 3 and started racing at 7, picked up her first Olympic medal when she won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Vonn’s final season will begin in Lake Louise in in Canada in late November. — Reuters