Lindsey Vonn raised her arms in a gesture that seemed almost apologetic to fans cheering her bronze medal finish at the world alpine ski championships Sunday in St. Moritz, Switzerland, but after she had time to process the result she took pride in it.
Vonn, 32, became the oldest female worlds medalist after finishing 0.45 of a second behind the winner, Ilka Stuhec of Slovenia, while claiming the seventh world championships medal of her illustrious career. She also took bronze in super-G at the 2015 world championships at Beaver Creek.
“I feel awesome,” Vonn said at the medalists’ post-race media conference. “It’s been a struggle for me the last few years with injuries. To be able to come back and get a medal at these world championships is awesome. The bronze for me today feels like gold. I wish I was able to ski a little bit faster, but I also came in this season with no training and pretty much no self confidence.”
Vonn broke her right arm in a training crash at Copper Mountain in November and suffered nerve damage that continues to impair the use of her right hand. She did not begin racing until mid-January.
“It’s just been a struggle,” Vonn said. “Nothing’s been easy for me the last five years, so I’m very thankful to have a medal.”
It was at the world championships in 2013 that Vonn suffered the first of two knee injuries that kept her out of the 2014 Sochi Olympics. She returned for the 2014-15 season but suffered another knee injury a year ago that cost her the last month of that season.
“To be the oldest world championships medalist on the women’s side, I’m really proud of that,” Vonn said. “I just want to say, I’m not that old but I guess I’m old, so I’m happy. No one wants to talk about my age, but you know what? It’s cool. I’m old and I’m proud.
“I’ve gotten a lot of really nice compliments from girls on the World Cup, saying how much they respect me, and I feel like I’m getting to that point now where people think I’m going to retire soon. Maybe I will and maybe I won’t, but it’s nice to get that respect because all these girls are really young and they’re all going to replace me when I retire. It’s a good feeling to have that respect from the girls.”
Vonn’s world championships are finished as the spotlight turns this week to EagleVail’s Mikaela Shiffrin in giant slalom and slalom. Vonn failed to finish the super-G and was fifth in the combined.
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
