Vonn says she’ll retire after season

Regardless of record, Lindsey Vonn’s career is almost complete

With Lindsey Vonn’s revelation that she will retire at the end of this season whether she breaks the alltime World Cup wins record or not, the alpine superstar from Vail has brought some suspense into a pursuit that once seemed almost a foregone conclusion.

Vonn stands No. 1 on the alltime women’s list with 82 and is only four behind Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, a slalom and giant slalom star of the 1980s. On Thursday in New York, Vonn told NBC Olympics reporter Nick Zaccardi that this season will be her last regardless of the how it goes. She will race only downhill and superG, meaning she will have the 17 starts to get the record.

“If I get it, that would be a dream come true,” Vonn said. “If I don’t, I think I’ve had an incredibly successful career no matter what. I’m still the alltime winningest female skier.”

Vonn, who turns 34 next week, won five races last season but only one the season before. That year she broke her the humerus in her right arm in a training accident at Copper Mountain, suffering nerve damage that post poned the start of her season until midJanuary.

She could get this season off to a sensational start because the schedule for downhillers begins the first weekend of December with two downhills and a superG at Lake Louise, Alberta, where she has often been dominant. She has won there 18 times (14 downhills and four superGs), accounting for 22 percent of her World Cup wins. Three times she swept all three races there (2011, 2012, 2015).

Vonn had a relatively injuryfree career until the first of her three knee injuries in 2013. She spoke frequently last season about the toll racing has taken on her body, especially her right knee, hence her decision to make this season her last.

“Physically, I’ve gotten to the point where it doesn’t make sense (to continue),” Vonn said. “I really would like to be active when I’m older, so I have to look to the future and not just be so focused on what’s in front of me.”

If she can cash in a few wins early in the season, the record could well fall in late January. On Jan.1920 the tour will be at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, where Vonn has 12 wins, second only to her 18 at Lake Louise. A week after Cortina the tour moves to GarmischPartenkirchen, Germany, her third most successful venue with nine.