WHISTLER, British Columbia — As Lindsey Vonn walked off the downhill slope after her second training run yesterday, the look on her face and the sound of her voice did not inspire confidence.
America’s skiing star sounded extremely concerned about her bruised right shin and how it will fare in tomorrow’s downhill competition.
“It’s feeling really bad right now,” said Vonn, who stopped to talk to two reporters. “I’m a little nervous as to what it’s going to feel like. I have to do therapy and hope for the best. I really don’t know how it’s going to respond after a day like today.”
When asked her confidence level, she said, “It’s not that high.”
While Vonn’s words create doubt, she skied well in her training runs yesterday, the first she’s had here. She had the fastest time of the morning run.
Weather has sent the alpine skiing schedule into disarray. Yesterday was the first clear day for Vonn to ski the downhill course. The women took a training run down about three-quarters of the course in the morning. They rested while the men competed, then skied the final quarter of the course in the afternoon.
“It went OK,” Vonn said. “It was just really tough. It was really, really bumpy and really painful the whole way down. Especially in the second run, that last jump really hurt it, so it was tough but I’m happy to be out here.”
Vonn bruised her shin on Feb. 2 when she crashed during training in Austria. She stayed off her skis until late last week and questioned whether she would even be able to race here.
The 25-year-old is entered in five races here, and a favorite to medal in two. The women are scheduled to have another training run today, but Vonn would rather rest.
“I’m hoping that the weather cooperates with me and we don’t have a training run (today),” Vonn said.
