Bormio (Italy) (AFP) – Unstoppable Mikaela Shiffrin and Swiss master Marco Odermatt headline the alpine skiing at the Winter Olympics, but doubts remain over comeback queen Lindsey Vonn, arguably one of the biggest names at the Milan-Cortina Games. In a bombshell reveal after touching down in the Dolomites for her fifth Olympics, Vonn disclosed that she had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in an ill-timed crash during last weekend’s Crans-Montana World Cup downhill.
Vonn, who retired due to persistent pain and underwent a partial knee replacement in April 2024 before making an astonishing comeback, insisted, however, that her dream of competing at the Olympics was “not over.” “My knee is not swollen and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete (in the downhill race) on Sunday,” the 41-year-old stated. “I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today. But I know there’s still a chance, and as long as there’s a chance I will try,” Vonn added, noting her record of 12 World Cup victories on the Cortina course.
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She is on a tight schedule. The first of three training runs for the women’s Olympic downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo was slated for Thursday but was cancelled due to snow. The two others are scheduled for February 6-7, with racers required to compete in at least one of those training runs to participate in the medal event on Sunday.
– Shiffrin on fire –
Vonn’s teammate Shiffrin heads for the Cortina hills as the most successful skier of all time, male or female. The 30-year-old has amassed an incredible 108 victories on the World Cup, including seven wins in eight slalom races this season. Her latest victory came in the Czech Republic, making her the first athlete on the circuit to win more than eight globes in a single event. Despite capturing slalom gold at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi just days before her 19th birthday and giant slalom gold in Pyeongchang, Shiffrin is eager to erase the memories of the 2022 Beijing Games, where she failed to medal. “It’s wonderful to be consistent and fast, but every time I ski, I feel like I could be flying off the course at any moment,” she said.
2018 Olympic downhill champion Sofia Goggia and the returning Federica Brignone will be representing Italy in Cortina.
– Odermatt, the Swiss leader –
Odermatt is also a dominant force in the men’s events, with the 28-year-old holding a considerable lead atop the overall World Cup standings. “The Olympic Games are always challenging; it’s just the medals that count,” Odermatt remarked. “There are always some surprises. I’m already Olympic champion, so that helps me going into these Games, but for sure I’m going to try to take another medal.”
Odermatt aims to lead a strong Swiss team, including fellow reigning world champions Loic Meillard and Franjo von Allmen, to more glory. Last year, Odermatt, Meillard, and Von Allmen stormed the world championships in Saalbach, where Switzerland clinched five out of the 11 titles, netting 13 out of the 33 medals on display in a dominant performance.
Having won giant slalom gold in Beijing four years ago, Odermatt is favored to compete for more podium finishes in Italy. He has already secured eight World Cup wins this season, showcasing his versatility with three wins each in giant slalom and downhill, and two in super-G. His competitiveness was evident in Kitzbuehel, where he expressed his emotions after finishing second behind Italian Giovanni Franzoni, stating, “I feel stupid that I can be that disappointed about second place here in Kitzbuehel, but we all knew that today, victory was my big goal, my big dream.”
Franzoni, an accomplished skier, is joined by veteran Dominik Paris, the 2019 super-G world champion, who boasts seven career victories on Bormio’s Stelvio piste. “A medal would be great; to be so confident before the Olympics is pretty cool,” said Franzoni regarding his recent wins in both Kitzbuehel and Wengen.
© 2024 AFP
