Olympic champion caps career by placing third
ARE, Sweden — Lindsey Vonn walked off with her career haul of medals in her right hand, the gold, silver and bronze clinking together almost weighing her down.
Or was it the bulging knee braces and metal support rods inside her vast array of once-broken bones?
Whatever it was, the sound was a reminder of what Vonn has come to symbolize — an athlete who came back from one major injury after another to win more ski races than any other woman.
Add one more — final — comeback to the list.
Five days after crashing in super-G — a fall that left her with a black eye and a bruised rib — and three months after tearing a ligament in her left knee, Vonn won the bronze medal in the world championship downhill Sunday in the final race of her career.
“I’m literally tapped out, I can’t cry anymore,” said Vonn, who career includes three Olympic medals, including a gold in the downhill in 2010. “I want to cry but it’s dry . ... It’s not an easy thing to feel your bones hitting together and continue to push through it.”
Vonn, 34, had planned to retire in December but persistent pain in both of her surgically repaired knees led her to move up the date. Then came the super-G crash, when the American straddled a gate in midair, flew face-first down the mountain and slammed into the safety nets.
“She has been business as usual this whole week, saying I’m racing to win,” said Karin Kildow, Vonn’s sister. “I was like, ‘Just maybe make it down and maybe stand up.’ But she was like, ‘No, I’m going full out.’ She was definitely in the mindset to push it and she really did.”
As soon as she exited the finish area, Vonn embraced Swede Ingemar Stenmark, the only skier to win more World Cup races than she did, 86 to 82.
“I basically begged him to come here via text, in all caps, many exclamation points,” Vonn said. “He’s an icon and a legend in our sport and he doesn’t really like the spotlight, but he deserves to have it. I was just so grateful that he was there. Honestly, it’s a perfect ending to my career.”
The third skier on the course, Vonn had a big smile on her face when she came down with the fastest run to that point. She waved and bowed to the crowd.
Eventually, Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia beat Vonn and took gold, defending her title from the 2017 worlds. Stuhec finished 0.23 of a second ahead of Corinne Suter of Switzerland and 0.49 ahead of Vonn.
“Not many were counting on (Vonn) to get the medal in her last race, which makes it even more special,” Stuhec said. “She has won everything.”