Vonn disappointed after missing podium in super-G
Late turn proves costly for decorated American skier
BUKPYEONG, South Korea — Way back in 2010, Lindsey Vonn felt she had figured out the Olympics. It was her third Winter Games and she was certain she’d finally solved the puzzle. Not only did Vonn win gold and bronze medals in Vancouver, but she’d learned how to juggle the pressures and logistics and intangibles inherent to her sport. Injuries kept her from competing in 2014, and she had to wait a full eight years to apply those lessons.
But the alpine courses are all different and in her first race of these Pyeongchang Olympics, the 33-yearold skier — one of the most decorated female racers the sport has known — was bested by a late turn in Saturday’s super-G event. Despite an otherwise medal-worthy race, the mistake proved costly and Vonn opened her Olympics with disappointment.
Vonn tore through the top half of the course, but with the finish line almost in sight, she struggled on one of her final turns, skiing off her line and very nearly losing her balance altogether. She recovered quickly and still posted one of the day’s top times — 1:21.49 — but a full 0.27 seconds separated Vonn from the podium. She appeared slightly stunned and surely disappointed after the race, shaking her head at the bottom of the course.
Because she was the first of 45 racers, she had to wait and watch, hoping her mistake wouldn’t prove as costly as she feared. It took only six racers before Vonn was bumped out of the running for a possible medal.
Czech racer Ester Ledecka made a stunning run from the back of the pack, clocking 1:21.11, which was 0.38 seconds ahead of Vonn.
Defending champion Anna Veith of Austria earned the silver, finishing 0.01 seconds back, and Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein captured bronze.
Vonn still has two more chances to nab an Olympic medal. The women’s downhill — her best event — is scheduled for Wednesday in Pyeongchang and the combined is set for Friday. Vonn is considered a podium threat in both.
But she had high hopes for the super-G and was eager to kick off these Olympics with a cleaner race. Vonn entered Saturday’s event ranked No. 10 in the World Cup’s super-G standings and had competed in five super-G race this season, winning Dec. 16 in Val d’Isere, France. But her best race in the other four was a sixthplace finish Jan. 21 in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Vonn was trying to become the first female racer to win Olympic gold in both downhill and the super-G. She was the downhill champion at the Vancouver Games, where she scored her bronze medal in the super-G. The super-G was added to the Olympic program in 1988 and is a speed event that requires bigger turns — and thus less speed — than downhill. No American woman has won gold in the super-G since Picabo Street at the 1998 Games.
Vonn won world titles in both speed disciplines in 2009 but has generally found more success in the downhill, where she’s racked up 42 wins and 65 total podiums.
Even before Saturday’s disappointing finish, these Games promised to be a particularly emotional Olympics for Vonn. It will likely be her final Winter Games, her last chance to compete on her sport’s biggest stage. While that might settle in later, Vonn has already shed tears here, discussing the impact of her grandfather, Don Kildow, who died last November at the age of 88. He’s the man who got the family started in the sport, putting Vonn’s father, Alan, on skis.
Vonn, of course, would come along years later, and blossom into one of the winningest female racers the sport has seen — 81 World Cup wins and counting — and has dedicated these Olympics to her late grandfather.
“I want so badly to do well for him. I miss him so much,” she said last week. “He’s been such a big part of my life, and I really hoped that he would be alive to see me. But I know he’s watching, and I know that he’s going to help me, and I’m going to win for him.”