Lindsey Vonn: "Time to say goodbye"

[James]

Did she have one or two knee braces on for that combined run? One was obvious. She also said she "popped a rib" in the start house so she couldn't push off well.

 

[Muleski]

Two braces and both knees taped underneath them. Everything possible to stabilize both knees. Don’t ask how I know...

The rib thing sounds odd. It’s at the point where you wonder just how much can go wrong. I would probably not advise running a DH with a “loose rib.” But we’ve covered the fact that she is racing no matter what.

Hope she skis safely through the finish, and maybe has a miracle finish. She is pushing as hard as ever, no shock there.

Amazing career. Women’s speed has just not been the same without a healthy LV. I was going to say “healthy and charging”, but we have always and still have the charger.

Wishing the best for Svindal, too. Tomorrow is his last time out of the gate, bib #8. Another great one.

Going to miss them both.

 

[VickieH]

Fingers crossed for a clean run on Sunday.

I'm glad she's going out her way.

 

[James]

She's won in every event except parallel. Including twice in slalom.

It's a lot of hardware collected over the years:

Wcup record:
82 firsts 43 dh, 28 sg, 4 gs, 2 sl, 5 cb
35 2nd's 16 dh, 11 sg, 1 gs, 2 sl, 5 cb
20 thirds 7 dh, 7 sg, 1 gs, 1 sl, 3 cb, 1 par

World Championships
2 gold dh, sg
3 silver 2dh,sg
2 bronze dh, sg

Olympics
1 gold dh
2 bronze sg, dh

From wikipedia

 

[Muleski]

Both SL wins were in 2008-2009. Levi, and a wierd series at Garmisch where she won both the SL, and the SG. pretty unusual. I remember that one.

She won the overall WC globe that season. The second of her three overalls in a row. She won four. Also won in 2012, second in 2011, and 2016.

Lotta wins. But 137 podiums, as @James noted.

Amazing when you look back on it. If you want to go WAY back, she was pretty dominant at the youth races like Trofeo Topolino and Whister Cup.

Hoping she has a great day Sunday. Will no doubt have a lot of tears, hoping to more smiles.

 

[skix]

Article at 538.com:

https://fivethirtyeight.com/feature...eatest-american-skier-and-its-not-even-close/

Lindsey Vonn Is The Greatest American Skier — And It’s Not Even Close

One of the great careers in international sport is coming to a close this weekend. Ski racer Lindsey Vonn’s final run will be Sunday, at the 2019 Alpine World Ski Championships in Are, Sweden — and in typical Vonn fashion, she’ll be bouncing back from a nasty crash to make her farewell race. Some of Vonn’s legacy will involve that toughness and perseverance, fighting back from injury after injury to make it down the mountain one more time. But Vonn’s career will also be remembered for her unparalleled speed and success, as well as the effect that success had on America’s surging ski program — an impact that will probably be felt many years after Vonn’s retirement.

To survey the career of Lindsey Vonn is to watch the golden era of United States Alpine skiing take shape. Before Vonn won the FIS World Cup overall championship in 2008, only one American woman (Tamara McKinney) — and three Americans, period (McKinney, Phil Mahre and Bode Miller) — had ever pulled off the feat. Vonn would go on to do it a total of four times as part of a resume that includes a record 82 World Cup event victories, 20 more than any other woman in history.

Statistically, Vonn is the most decorated American skier in history, as well as the greatest women’s skier ever. At least, that’s according to the Ski-DB.com “super ranking,” a system that awards points for finishes in World Cup races, the World Championships and the Winter Olympics (since 1966, when the World Cup circuit was originally launched). The ranking puts heavy emphasis on World Cup performance — where Vonn has been at her most dominant, relative to the other competitions tracked — probably because that is the area that has carried the most weight in evaluations of champion skiers and their legacies.

....

 

[4ster]

I remember briefly meeting a young Lindsey Kildow in 2002 just as she finished some training runs during the Olympics. She was 17 or 18 years old at the time & had the best US result in the Combined, 6th place. I wonder if she still has the Snowbasin basin cap I gave her. It doesn’t seem that long ago.

What a fierce competitor & great champion she is. I hope her life after ski racing is just as productive.

 

[Swede]

And when she’s done tomorrow, her and Aksel are throwing a party in Åre.

 

[crgildart]

DVR set

 

[D Lamour]

And when she’s done tomorrow, her and Aksel are throwing a party in Åre.

Imagine if... their offspring dominating skiing in 2040s lol.

 

[Chris Walker]

DVR set

Alarm set. Failing that, DVR also set...

 

[Swede]

Imagine if... their offspring dominating skiing in 2040s lol.

I ment a party, literally

 

[Dwight]

 

[Jilly]

Bronze! And flowers from Ingmar! Classy way to finish it.

 

[Alexzn]

What a wah to finish a career!!! True legend.

 

[Muleski]

I agree. Great finale to an incredible career. Lot of smiles, tears, and a big party going on to celebrate the careers of LV and ALS.

I am SO happy that her knees held together, that the course was so short and relatively speaking so gentle. Nobody will remember than down the road. They will remember that she was on the podium at World Champs in her final race, on a broken body.....with an ear to ear smile!

One tough lady. Amazing.

 

[Swede]

Party going on. Ingemar is there too. He actually had to do quite some shuffeling in his calendar to be able to be in Åre today.

 

[Andy Mink]

In the starting gate you could really see how big the knee braces are. You could also see her right thigh just vibrating. Nerves or leg just doing its own thing? Glad she finished well.

 

[Swiss Toni]

Glad she won a medal, a fine end to spectacular career.

She held press conference after the Super G. Her knees are wrecked, both require further surgery and she said that she will be in pain for the rest of her life.

 

[Tom K.]

Hot damn!

Going out on the box, to end an amazing career.

Congrats!