No medal for Vonn at her last Olympics

Lindsey Vonn waited eight years for this Olympics. Her first medal opportunity evaporated less than 80 seconds after the race began.

Skiing Saturday’s super-G with the unenviable No. 1 bib, which meant racing without any course feedback, Vonn appeared to have a medal-worthy run going until making a critical mistake near the bottom of the course. Five seconds after former teammate and NBC commentator Bode Miller complimented her for “really good skiing,” Vonn got wide on a right-footed turn that took her out of the racing line into soft snow that killed her speed.

Eight seconds later she was in the finish area, grabbing her head in frustration. She knew that mistake would be fatal to her medal hopes.

Vonn tied for sixth place, only 0.38 of a second behind the surprise gold medalist Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic and only 0.27 of a second behind bronze medalist Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein. But the fact that she was so close despite that mistake underscored that she probably would have won the race without it.

“Number one it is always really difficult, especially in super-G,” Vonn told NBC’s finish line interviewer. “I think it was a pretty big disadvantage to be honest. There was a little bit of fluff (loose snow) left on the course, and unfortunately I got some headwind in the middle section. But I attacked. I gave it everything I had, I have no regrets.”

Vonn won an Olympic bronze medal in super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Games, where she took gold in downhill. She is a three-time world championships medalist in super-G.

She still has two medal chances in the PyeongChang Games, in the downhill on Wednesday and the alpine combined on Friday. The combined — a run of downhill and one run of slalom — may be a stretch because she’s had very little slalom training in recent years, but she will be a strong favorite in the downhill, her best event.

Vonn missed the 2014 Olympics because of a right knee injury suffered at the 2013 world championships and a subsequent re-injury of the knee nine months later.

This season she has four World Cup victories — three in downhill and one in super-G — that moved her to within five victories of the all-time record by Ingemar Stenmark, but she has made it clear all year long that she temporarily relegated the record to secondary importance behind the pursuit of Olympic medals. She has seven career world championships medals but only two Olympic medals, and this almost certainly will be her last Olympics.

“I’m so thankful that I’m able to be here, that I’m able to ski and do what I love,” Vonn said. “I’ve had a roller coaster the last eight years with so many injuries, but I’m here, I’m healthy, I’m able to ski 100 percent and I’m just very thankful for the opportunity.”