Champions don’t give up. Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn has not had it easy this season, but she’s ready to remind people why she’s a gold medalist.
Vonn, 32, met her first major challenge with a November 2016 injury on the slopes, which left her on the sidelines and needing surgery to repair her fractured arm.
At the time, she shared on her Facebook page, “Unfortunately, yesterday I crashed while training in Copper and severely fractured the humerus bone in my right arm. I had successful surgery last night in Vail and everyone took great care of me. While I am beyond frustrated by this latest setback, at least my knees are ok and I will return to the slopes as soon as possible, as I always do! Thank you for the continued love and support, it means so much to me.”
Vonn, who’d previously been sidelined in 2013 and 2014 with a knee injury, shared her postsurgery scars shortly after surgery in November, noting positively, “on the bright side it’s better to have that on my arm than my leg…”
Since then, Vonn has embraced her scar, showing it off at Armani’s Milan Fashion Week show on February 27, writing, “Scars are what make me stronger.”
However, she faced another hurdle at the World Cup Alpine combined race on Friday, February 24, pulling out due to harsh conditions on the Swiss course.
“Well that’s enough. I’m not racing today. This is not safe,” she tweeted that day. “I didn’t race because I thought the conditions weren’t safe. It has nothing to do with wanting to race the men. Safety should be the priority.”
The two-time Olympic medalist did ski the following day, but she encountered another challenge as she battled food poisoning and ended up crashing during the race.
“Unfortunately after getting food poisoning and crashing today I don’t feel healthy enough to safely race tomorrow so I will not be starting,” she tweeted on Saturday, February 25. “Happy that my stomach feels better today. Have whiplash from my crash but otherwise ok. Now I need to regain some strength mentally and [muscle emoji].”
Never one to give up or let anything get in her way — especially after her amazing recovery following the November crash — Vonn is ready to show off her speed at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup on March 3 and 4 (airing on NBC Sports Network at 9 p.m. ET).
Vonn — who missed the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia, due to a knee injury — is already looking to the Winter Olympics next February in Pyeongchang, South Korea, tweeting about visiting the Olympic venue on Tuesday, February 28.
