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Ski alpin: Bump-ridden Olympic course leaves Vonn hurting
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Feb 15, 2010
Whistler (AFP) - American ski star Lindsey Vonn knows that if she wants Olympic gold, it's going to be a bumpy and painful ride.
Vonn, the two-time overall World Cup champion, has come into the Vancouver Games with big hopes of dominating the speed events of the downhill and super-G as well as the super-combined.
What was not part of her plans was the painful shin injury she is still nursing following a training crash in Austria a fortnight ago.
Thanks to several days of weather-related delays and postponements, the women will finally race for Olympic gold Thursday in the super-combined, an event which comprises a downhill and a slalom.
Vonn and the entire field finally managed to complete the requisite training session for the downhill section of the event on Monday after improved weather conditions allowed organisers to bring the course up to race standard.
But for Vonn, racing at top speed on Franz's Run was not a pleasant experience.
She is taking painkillers daily and using numbing cream on her leg. Because of the injury, she could now skip a training session Tuesday to rest.
"It's tough, I honestly was expecting (the course) it to be a little bit better," said Vonn. "Yesterday I trained slalom and it was okay but the course here is just so bumpy.
"I was just so shocked, it wasn't just rattly, it was jarring. It was a fight just to make it all the way down the whole way.
"I was barely in my tuck, any part of the course. And I think this is the worst course for my shin, but you've just got to fight through it."
Instead of holding one full training session, changing weather conditions forced organisers to hold two partial sessions either side of the men's downhill race.
Vonn dominated the first session, but failed to see how.
"I was honestly surprised. I almost went out of the course a couple of times. It wasn't bad skiing, it was fighting-to-make-it-down skiing."
She added: "I've never run a course this bumpy before. It's not a fun or feel-good course, it's a just stick-your-nose-in-it-and-make-it-down course, and if you're aggressive and not sliding I think you'll be fast.
"I know how to ski it, it's just a case of fighting through the pain."
Sweden's seven-time world champion Anja Parson is, along with Vonn and her German rival Maria Riesch, a strong medal contender in the super-combined.
She finished top of the second partial training session, and echoed the thoughts of many racers who have remarked on the different types of snow on the top, middle and bottom sections of the course.
Asked if it was scary ride, she said: "Let's just say I don't think anyone was comfortable out there.
"It's really bumpy in a lot of places but you have to get a good angle and have a high line on the places with the bumps."
Riesch, who in recent days has persisted that Vonn's injury is not so serious, finished way off the pace on both runs.
She said: "The piste is really bumpy from top to bottom - I just didn't feel good on it.
"But I am not worried about the result. As for Lindsey being strong -- well I expected that."
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