Vonn trying not to think of downhill as her last at Olympics

JEONGSEON, SOUTH KOREA

— Lindsey Vonn prefers not to dwell on what shapes up as a significant story line for the women’s downhill at the Pyeongchang Games.

“I’ve tried not to think about it as being my last Olympic downhill. Just focus on the moment, the right here and the right now. And I think later I’ll reflect on how much I enjoyed it and how much my teammates and my coaches made it special for me,” Vonn said ahead of Wednesday’s contest. “But you can’t get too sentimental right now, because I still have to race. I still have to be focused. And afterward, I’ll do some reflecting.”

What she also hopes to do, of course, is win a second gold medal in her sport’s fastest event, to go along with the one from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Vonn missed the Sochi Games four years ago after tearing ligaments in her right knee and has said this will be her last goround at an Olympics.

She was asked this week how her health is at the moment.

“Everything’s great. I feel like a million bucks,” she said with a smile. “And 33!”

Vonn, generally considered the greatest female ski racer in history, was in strong form heading into these Olympics, winning the last three World Cup downhills she entered beforehand.

Most consider her the favorite, and she looked good in training runs. She produced the fastest time Sunday and the third fastest Monday despite easing up before the finish. In the final practice Tuesday, she was fourth fastest, trying different racing lines to see which created the most speed.

“Some of the lines I took (Tuesday) I think were faster, others not,” Vonn said courseside, before going to analyze her run on video. “Everything feels pretty good.”

Vonn promised an “all or nothing” effort.

“There’s really no need to be nervous or think about pressure or expectation,” she said. “If I’m nervous then I’m going to lose anyway, so what’s the point?”