Vonn finds ‘mental strength’ to overcome personal hurdles
All season, Lindsey Vonn has been the picture of poise on the mountain, no matter what she was dealing with off it.
This day was different.
With a chance to clinch her fourth World Cup overall title, more than any other U.S. ski racer in history, Vonn felt the nerves steadily building, her heart racing, when she stepped into the starting gate Friday for the second run of a giant slalom in Are, Sweden.
Leading after the first run, Vonn knew all she needed was one last safe pass through a bumpy course with flat light. Only that’s not her style.
So she attacked the entire way — “seizing the opportunity,” she called it — and put the finishing touches on yet another victory and yet another season championship, both by wide margins. Vonn’s two-run time of two minutes, 28 seconds was nearly a half-second faster than runner-up Federica Brignone of Italy, and more than a second faster than Olympic champion Viktoria Rebensburg of Germany.
She secured the overall title with five races left.
“It’s been an incredible season,” Vonn said. “I’ve had a lot of personal struggles. But I found mental strength to overcome it.”
In November, early in the season, she separated from Thomas Vonn, her husband of four years and her personal coach. She turned those distractions into motivation.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I can ski by myself,” Vonn said. “It’s been tough. But I think I definitely have held my focus more this year than ever before. I went out there and showed everyone I can ski under tough situations.”