One uncharacteristic mistake from Lindsey Vonn cost her a chance at winning a second Olympic medal in super-G. Vonn finished tied for sixth in the event with Italy's Federica Brignone, doing so after being the first skier to race the course and crossing the finish line in 1 minute, 21.49 seconds.
"At least I'm not fourth," Vonn said on NBC. "I'm actually happier to be fifth than fourth."
.@lindseyvonn's reaction after finishing her first Olympic race in eight years: "I tried." #WinterOlympics #BestOfUS https://t.co/YtEpNzDMDu pic.twitter.com/uVY6KOBiRi
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 17, 2018
Incredibly, Vonn was fifth at the time of that quote -- but then Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic, who was borrowing Mikaela Shiffrin's skis for the race, stunned the field and stole the gold. Ledecka's win might wind up being the most shocking result of these Olympics, considering her primary event doesn't even involve skiing: Ledecka will compete next week in snowboard parallel giant slalom.
You'd be shocked, too. 😱
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 17, 2018
Ester Ledecka, a world champion SNOWBOARDER, shocks the field to win a surprise-gold by 0.01 in alpine skiing women's super-G! #WinterOlympics https://t.co/YtEpNzDMDu pic.twitter.com/EeoHuALcKX
As for Vonn, she skied a mostly solid run with the exception of one late turn -- three gates from the finish line -- that shot her wide right off-course. That slide wound up costing her valuable tenths of a second and put her at a disadvantage.
In fact, Vonn said on NBC afterward that her going first was also a significant challenge and she listed the reasons why.
"Number one is always really difficult, especially in super-G," she said. "You know, we haven't been on this trail yet this year, I think it was a pretty big disadvantage, to be honest. There was a little bit of fluff left on the course, and unfortunately I got some headwind in the middle section. Definitely the winds have been chasing for every racer. But I attacked. I gave it everything I had, I have no regrets. I made a mistake on the bottom, but that's what happens in super-G. I'm disappointed but I'm not upset because all you can do is give it your best and that's what I did."
By the time the eighth skier finished, Vonn was no longer in contention for a medal. She watched one by one as her chance to win gold, then silver, then bronze was taken away.
Vonn finished 0.38 seconds behind Ledecka, who ripped gold from Anna Veith, beating the Austrian by 0.01 seconds. Veith was the reigning queen of women's super-G; she took gold in the event at the 2014 Games in Sochi, crossing that super-G course in 1:25.52. Austria, a dominant power in super-G, won gold in this event the three prior Olympics. Tina Weirather of Liechtenstein took home bronze (1:21.22).
Had Vonn been able to take that antepenultimate turn tightly, it's plausible she would have earned a medal. Vonn said she may have misread the bend.
"It was a pretty quick switch and I thought I came in there with pretty decent speed, and I don't know, I think the terrain just caught me a little bit," Vonn said on NBC. "I thought I had the turn finished sooner than I did and I lost elevation. I'm happy that I hung on and still was able to finish the course, but that's the thing with running No. 1. You're not able to see any of the other racers go, you don't know what the speeds are, you don't know if the line is exactly as you expected. So I did the best that I could with the information I had."
After missing Sochi in 2014 due to injury, Vonn -- aiming to become the oldest woman to ever medal in an alpine Olympic event -- had her sights set on potentially winning two individual medals in 2018. Vonn, who has 81 World Cup victories to her name, took bronze in super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Vonn's Olympics is not over. She will race Wednesday, local time, in the downhill, which she won gold in back in 2010. Vonn's return to the Olympic stage comes after an eight-year span filled with brutal injuries, the list of which includes two broken arms, two ACL tears, an MCL tear, a fractured tibial plateau in her right knee and a concussion.
"I'm so thankful that I'm able to be here, that I'm able to ski and do what I love," Vonn said. "I've had a roller coaster the last eight years with so many injuries but I'm here, I'm healthy, I'm able to ski a hundred percent and I'm just very thankful for the opportunity. I may not have gotten a medal today but I'm still proud of my performance and I have two more races left so I'm hoping those will go a little bit better."
For a full schedule of how to Vonn's remaining events, click here.
|
Country
|
|
|
|
TOTAL
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
14 | 14 | 11 | 39 |
|
14 | 10 | 7 | 31 |
|
11 | 8 | 10 | 29 |
|
9 | 8 | 6 | 23 |
|
8 | 6 | 6 | 20 |
|
7 | 6 | 1 | 14 |
|
5 | 8 | 4 | 17 |
|
5 | 6 | 4 | 15 |
|
5 | 4 | 6 | 15 |
|
5 | 3 | 6 | 14 |
|
4 | 5 | 4 | 13 |
|
3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
|
2 | 6 | 9 | 17 |
|
2 | 2 | 3 | 7 |
|
2 | 1 | 0 | 3 |
|
1 | 6 | 2 | 9 |
|
1 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
|
1 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
|
1 | 0 | 4 | 5 |
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
|
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
|
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
|
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
