USA TODAY International Edition
Ready for slopes
Credits Tiger for helping her stay positive
VAIL, COLO. Lindsey Vonn is ready to reclaim the spotlight.
Vonn will be back on snow this weekend in Portillo, Chile, for the first time since her horrifying crash in the world championships in February.
“I’m just looking forward to going fast,” Vonn told USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday.
Enough already of the galleries and hushed tones of PGA Tour events. Bring on the speed.
“Physically I’m 100% now,” she said of her surgically repaired right knee. “I’ve been in the gym far too long. I’m ready to be out in the fresh air.”
It was wonderful to spend time with family. She loved watching her boyfriend play golf. She finally learned how to fly fish. But nothing compares to racing 60 mph down a mountain in a tucked position.
“I’ve been working so hard for so long to get back. I don’t care what I do as long as I’m on snow. I just want to get back to my job,” she said with a laugh.
That job is winning ski races. Yes, she’s Tiger Woods’ girlfriend, but she’s also the most successful female ski racer in American history.
“I’m the same person I was before. I’m an Olympic ski racer. I don’t read into what people say especially now,” she said. “Whether people know me for my skiing or not is really irrelevant, because people in ski racing know and respect me, and that’s all that really matters.”
Vonn plans to return to competition in Beaver Creek, Colo., in late November. “I would love to win as many World Cups as possible, but my main focus is definitely on the Olympics. If I start off slow, it’s fine. I want to make sure that by the time I get to Sochi that I’m 100% in those events.”
Though Vonn is eager to ski fast and go through some gates in Chile, her trainer will try to pump the brakes. “We’ll just try to see how she feels on snow, how her knee is reacting. Not getting swelling will be the focus for the first two days — skiing without any pain,” Red Bull trainer Martin Hager said.
Vonn, a four- time World Cup overall champion, plans to compete in the downhill, super- G, giant slalom and super combined but probably not slalom because it’s not her best event.
Skiing’s most significant other will be along for the ride as much as possible. “We’re trying to figure it out,” Vonn said. “But he definitely wants to be there. ... He plays pretty much the entire year.”
When Woods fell to his knees Sunday in a tournament because of severe back spasms, Vonn, watching from home, winced. “I know the feeling. I thought he was going to withdraw,” she said.
Woods, who has had reconstructive knee surgery, has helped Vonn stay positive. “Sometimes I get panicky and worried ( when a movement didn’t feel right), and he’s like, ‘ Calm down, you’re fine.’ ”
He also understands her desire to get back to competition.
“We’re really competitive with everything, ping- pong, tennis and whatever. I usually lose, which is really depressing,” Vonn said.
So skiing aside, what is Vonn better at than Woods? “The hand slapping game,” she said with a laugh as she held out her arms mimicking the childhood game. “I’ve got better reflexes and better balance.”
Earlier, Vonn worked on that balance by standing on a yellow board with a wheel underneath. As she steadied herself with knees slightly bent, Hager pushed to throw her off balance. Vonn stayed upright without teetering.
But can Woods do that? “He tries,” Vonn said with a smile.