I also think that LV handled herself, really well, at the Olympics. Very genuinely. She has become a leader for not only the younger women on the USST speed group, but for most of the tour as well. That's a change from not too long ago. As a crafty veteran, who has been through so much injury, she also has the mindset that the games are just ski races, and things can all line up for you or against you. It happens. Would she have liked a couple of golds? Sure. Would have been a fairybook story.
In the SG she didn't complain about the wind, the surface, nor did she complain about the current bib draw process, where the 10th ranked skier is most often disadvantaged behind the 11, 12, 13, 14, etc. She was stuck with bib #1, which was no bargain at all. Last turn of the course cost her the gold. She was disappointed, but factual. I liked it. No BS. I didn't take any comments as being whining or unprofessional. Hey....wasn't to be. There was talk that her skis were, even with her lead, not running as many expected. She has the fasted skis on tour, and her tech does a tremendous job.
I also think she handled the DH well. Huge disappointment for her at the moment. She wanted the gold. Nothing "wrong" with that. Upon reflection, she's the oldest female alpine medalist ever, she's come back from a lot. I think she was super genuine in her praise of Goggia. They are god friends, and Goggia shows a lot of the "go for it", "go for broke", and "she's nuts" tendencies that a young LV did. I also think she was super complementary of Ester in the SG.
She has taken some heat, from those right in the sport, about posting the picture of h DH ski. I don't think that's warranted. Some say she's throwing her tech under the bus, and some even more clueless say she's throwing Head under the bus. Others, ,ore I think, just say she's showing what that surface was doing to some skis. The ski cost her the gold. No question. She didn't look "fast" to those on the hill, in terms of her normal acceleration at certain points on the course. Wasn't there. Pretty amazing to grab the bronze.
Her tech {and she and her coaches most likely} made the call as to which skis to use, and Heinz went to work to make them the fastest. He's one of the very best. Maybe the best. That surface was really screwy. The weather and and was odd. The sun. You rarely have 400 or so skiers who have largely been running on the same track. Looks like he bet on that base being her best shot at that gold. Didn't work out.
She didn't go nuts in the finish.No question she knew the skis were "not good" early in the run. She probably noticed the bases as soon as she un-clicked from. I have ZERO problems with her saying that he skis were cooked, and that was no help. That's the truth. I don't know who controls her social media. I believe that she actually does all of her stuff on one platform, Instagram. I think the ski pick was on Twitter....so who knows who posted it. I don't think there was any bad intent. At all. She would never have a bad thing to say about her support team. She gets it.
I've spent quite a bit of time around her for close to 20 years. She's in a very good place these days, this year, and it's nice to see. I think she handled things very well in Korea, which was not easy. Lots of demands and expectations.
