GOLDEN GIRL GOES DOWN!!!!!!!!!! VONN CRASHES IN TRAINING!!!!!

[The AD]

I totally disagree with that. I think that she is all about publicity and glamour, and will do whatever she can to feel important and live life large.

I think she's both that and a hugely competitive person. I really think the latter element is driving this comeback, although maybe it's difficult to divorce the two for her. The more she won, the more publicity she got.

[Dantheman]

No comparison? I don't follow ski racing like some, but has any other US gold metal winner come out of retirement at a ripe old age aside from Bill and now Lindsey?

Bill skied and did 12 oz curls. Lindsey is a modern athlete who trains her ass off. I don't expect her to podium or even crack the top 20, and there is a real possibility that she could crash out and wreck herself (it is ski racing after all), but this comeback is fundamentally different than Bill's.

[fomofo]

It's kinda like what happened to Pete Sampras. Supremely gifted player, the best of his era, and considered The GOAT at that time. Then shortly after he retires with the all time Grand Slam wins record, (which had stood for thirty years before that), here comes Federer, and then Nadal, and then Djokovic. Although he's only been out of the game for a little over twenty years he's not well known to the current players, almost forgotten, a footnote in tennis history.

Does anyone think Shiffrin getting ready to crack 100 isn't figuring into all this?

(Ironically?) Vonn is a huge Federer fan. She should take a note from his book and stay retired gracefully. She's got the whole second half of her life to come - being able to walk and go for hikes in the hills with her dogs and do some pleasure skiing and play tennis is a lot to risk for what? She had her time - she needs to move on.

Sorry, I'm a huge admirer/fan, but I think she's making a big mistake.

[schindlerpiste]

Lindsey will be a forerunner at Birds of Prey. That is about right

[MakersTeleMark]

She wouldn't be caught dead in a 4runner.

[garyfromterrace]

Lindsey's going to race some "lower level" FIS DH & SG's. I guess that means Norams?

Some fun facts about other "older" WC ski racers:

- No woman older than 34 has won a World Cup ski race

- The oldest woman to win a World Cup downhill was Vonn herself at age 33 in Are, Sweden, in March 2018.

- The oldest female winner in any race was established at the start of this season, when Federica Brignone won the giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in October, at age 34.

- The oldest man to win a race was Didier Cuche at 37 in a super-G in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in 2012.

- Johan Clarey set the record for the oldest podium finisher with a second-place result in the famed Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria, at age 42 in January 2023.

- Bill Johnson, the first U.S. skier to win an Olympic downhill title, suffered brain injuries when he crashed badly at age 40 during a comeback attempt. Johnson died five years later. (edit - this is incorrect as Mr Sentence suggests it's actually 15 years, TSN is full of shit)

- Eight-time overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher took advantage of the wild card rule and recently returned after five years away. But then Hirscher tore his left ACL while training in giant slalom and announced on Tuesday that his comeback season was done.

[One (+) Sentence]

Lindsey's going to race some "lower level" FIS DH & SG's. I guess that means Norams?

Some fun facts about other "older" WC ski racers:

- No woman older than 34 has won a World Cup ski race

- The oldest woman to win a World Cup downhill was Vonn herself at age 33 in Are, Sweden, in March 2018.

- The oldest female winner in any race was established at the start of this season, when Federica Brignone won the giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in October, at age 34.

- The oldest man to win a race was Didier Cuche at 37 in a super-G in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in 2012.

- Johan Clarey set the record for the oldest podium finisher with a second-place result in the famed Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria, at age 42 in January 2023.

- Bill Johnson, the first U.S. skier to win an Olympic downhill title, suffered brain injuries when he crashed badly at age 40 during a comeback attempt. Johnson died five years later.

- Eight-time overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher took advantage of the wild card rule and recently returned after five years away. But then Hirscher tore his left ACL while training in giant slalom and announced on Tuesday that his comeback season was done.

Bill Johnson lived for 15 years after his comeback attempt crash.

[garyfromterrace]

Bill Johnson lived for 15 years after his comeback attempt crash.

Damn right he did. Thanks for the correction and sorry for the misinformation. I blame TSN.

[skiJ]

Sounds like he had a very low quality of life for those 15 years though. Bed ridden, basically paralyzed, and smoking cigarettes in bed while his mom cared for him.

There is a Bill Johnson thread somewhere, I believe started with his death -

I don't know that many here would consider him a tragic figure, and I really don't want to take this thread on that tangent.
it is my understanding he was Not paralyzed, but was greatly challenged to ambulate, and communication was also greatly challenged .

He put in the Work ( and had a pair of magical skis in 1984 )
... he put in the Work to become 1984 Olympic champion, and was injured shortly thereafter ( his back and a knee ), and was gone by 1987...

Rest, Bill Johnson.

skiJ

[Danno]

Vonn proved today that she can still race. But she still has a long way to go.

[fomofo]

A little more on that...

Nearly six years after her retirement, American alpine skiing legend Lindsey Vonn returned to competition Saturday in a pair of downhill races in Copper Mountain, Colo.

The 40-year-old Vonn finished 24th and 27th, respectively, out of the 40 skiers who finished the FIS Fall Festival downhill runs on Saturday, followed by finishes of 24th (out of 31) and 19th (out of 28) in the Super-G on Sunday. The event is a level below the top-tier World Cup circuit but featured several top skiers who were training for next weekend’s World Cup event in the same venue.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/597...-cup-olympics/

[Danno]

with the race results from this weekend, Vonn is now eligible for wild card entries into WC races (and what race operator won't give her a wild card entry?). So she's on her way. I think the results she got are really remarkable given the circumstances and I hope she keeps improving. And hope she doesn't hurt herself.

[andy m]

Quote from Lindsey after the races:

"I know it seems like I'm far away, but I'm actually really freaking close for only having run a few days of training after basically six years," Vonn said in an interview with The Associated Press after a series of lower-level downhill and super-G races over the weekend at Copper Mountain. "I honestly never thought I'd be back in this position."

[Danno]

For a wordy mother fucker, apparently I'm not providing enough info with my Lindsey Vonn posts!

[fomofo]

Lindsey will be a forerunner at Birds of Prey. That is about right

You called it. Any other insights you'd care to share?

https://denvergazette.com/outdoors/s...2d65c01f0.html

This coming weekend, the World Cup races will return to Beaver Creek, Colo., the site of her World Cup win in December 2011. Vonn won’t be among the athletes competing for a podium finish, though. “I didn’t get my points in time, and also I’m not really ready,” she explained on Instagram.

https://swimsuit.si.com/swimnews/lin...-years-amazing

[schindlerpiste]

She put out a video today. I must say, she put everything into perspective, and spelled out her path in a clear, realistic and eloquent way. She seems to be taking a very calm and "we'll see how it goes" approach, but you know that the fire burns. She knows where she is at, and will learn more by running the Birds of Prey. Every time that I doubt her, she does something to impress me. GODSPEED

[BC.]

And she’s totally hot…

[~mikey b]

I was skeptical but her video today changed my mind

[MakersTeleMark]

It's nice that she is growing up, but I still wouldn't hit it, and she still can't understand normal thinking.

[cinnepa]

It's kinda like what happened to Pete Sampras. Supremely gifted player, the best of his era, and considered The GOAT at that time. Then shortly after he retires with the all time Grand Slam wins record, (which had stood for thirty years before that), here comes Federer, and then Nadal, and then Djokovic. Although he's only been out of the game for a little over twenty years he's not well known to the current players, almost forgotten, a footnote in tennis history.

Does anyone think Shiffrin getting ready to crack 100 isn't figuring into all this?

(Ironically?) Vonn is a huge Federer fan. She should take a note from his book and stay retired gracefully. She's got the whole second half of her life to come - being able to walk and go for hikes in the hills with her dogs and do some pleasure skiing and play tennis is a lot to risk for what? She had her time - she needs to move on.

Sorry, I'm a huge admirer/fan, but I think she's making a big mistake.

Bingo....same here.

[fomofo]

OK, talking out of the other side of my mouth. Again. Like I said, I'm a fan, and it's wildly exciting to see her racing again. Just really hope she can stay healthy.



https://gazette.com/sports/lindsey-v...78d9aa184.html


P.S.
As for the Birds of Prey track itself, the women’s downhill will start just four gates lower than the men’s course, meaning it will skip half of the gliding Flyway section before spitting racers onto the steepest part of the course known as The Brink. Wiles says it is unlike anything the women have skied before.

“It’s unique in the sense that it has a lot of everything—a really steep pitch with a lot of terrain, a technical section at the top and a lot of open, flowing turns at the bottom. It’s going to be exciting to see who can adapt quickly to that track,” Wiles says.

https://www.skimag.com/athletes/race...f-prey-preview

[andy m]

Vonn will race in two Super-G World Cup events next weekend at St. Moritz.

[Danno]

As a forerunner she supposedly skied very well at BC today. Saw this here: "Only the competitors have official times, but Vonn was hand-timed at 1:34.1 which would have placed her just inside the top 20 of the race". And elsewhere she said she didn't take the run at 100% as she was making changes to her equipment.

[fomofo]

FYI Peacock is showing a "Women's Downhill & Super G" program scheduled to start at 1pm PT today.

[BmillsSkier]

Super fun two weeks of racing at the Beav!

Early season snow, weather, the addition of the Women, all made for an incredible event.

Heck of a bounce back by Goggia this weekend and Lara Gut
Is still such a total sweetheart.