VONN READY TO GO
Wants to race men’s downhill
Seven months after her third knee injury in four years ended her 2015-16 season prematurely, Lindsey Vonn completed three weeks of on-snow training in South America on Friday feeling “really good” about the coming winter when she can become the winningest ski racer in history.
She’s feeling so good, in fact, she is thinking about competing beyond the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, when she will be 33 years old. One reason: She still hopes to convince the International Ski Federation to let her race in a downhill against men, and she doesn’t think the hidebound FIS will agree to her request until after Pyeongchang.
“I would hope to do it in the year after the Olympics,” Vonn said in an interview. “I think it will take that long to get it figured out with the FIS, if it’s even possible.”
Two seasons ago Vonn became the winningest woman in World Cup history, surpassing Annemarie MoserProell’s record of 62 wins, and her nine victories last season put her at 76. Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden holds the men’s record (86), which should be well within Vonn’s grasp this season if she remains healthy.
“That’s definitely my goal at this point,” Vonn said. “I’m just trying to focus on wins. It’s hard. It’s kind of like Annemarie Moser-Proell’s record, the more you think about it, the harder it is to break. So I’m trying not to think about it, just focusing on winning as many races as I can. If I can do that, then hopefully I can break this record this season.”
The biennial world championships will be held in February in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where Vonn hopes to add to her collection of six world championships medals (two gold), most recently bronze in super-G at the 2015 Vail world championships.
“But my main focus is on winning World Cups,” Vonn said. “I’m skiing for sure until the next Olympics, and maybe beyond that if I feel good.”
Vonn suffered three fractures to the tibial plateau of her left knee in February when she crashed in a super-G race after hitting a patch of soft snow.
The injury didn’t require surgery, just time on crutches and rest to let the fractures heal.
“I took a lot of time off this spring to make sure my knee was healed and I gave myself a really long bit of time to get strong,” Vonn said. “I feel good, I feel prepared, I feel really strong and I feel really rested mentally. It was a good break and I’m very motivated to come back this year.”
Even missing a month of the season, Vonn won the 2016 World Cup downhill title and passed Moser-Proell’s record for World Cup downhill wins (36). Vonn has 38.
“I have no pain, I feel great,” Vonn said. “I’ve felt 100 percent for a while now.”
Vonn wants the FIS to let her race against men in a downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta, one of three venues in the world that hosts men’s and women’s downhills annually. Lake Louise is sometimes nicknamed Lake Lindsey because 14 of her downhill wins and four of her super-G wins have come there.
“I think it’d be good for the sport and it’s an ambition of mine that I’ve always wanted to do,” Vonn said. “I train with (men) all the time and I feel like I push myself harder when I ski with them. I just want to see where I stack up. It’s just something I want to do before I retire. I just don’t know if the FIS will let it happen before I retire. Nothing moves very fast when it comes to changing rules and allowing this sort of thing to take place.”
In fact, Vonn trained with the U.S. women downhillers for two weeks last month in Portillo, Chile, came back to the U.S. for a week, then returned to Portillo last week to train for a week with male downhillers from the U.S. and Norway.
Vonn turns 32 this month and has been a full-time World Cup racer since she was 17, but she loves the sport as much as ever.
“Going fast is what I love to do,” Vonn said. “I love pushing myself, I love racing, I love trying to win. I like it when everything’s on the line and your adrenaline’s high, you’re nervous and excited. I love all of those emotions. That’s what I live for, what makes me the happiest.”