Sun Valley (United States) (AFP) – An emotional Lindsey Vonn declared, “I belong on the podium,” after clinching the first top-three finish of her comeback in Sunday’s World Cup Final women’s super-G race. The 40-year-old American alpine ski star completed the course in 1:13.64 to finish second, 1.29 seconds behind Swiss winner Lara Gut-Behrami, who captured her record sixth World Cup title in the discipline with the triumph.
But it was Vonn who swiped the spotlight with her best showing since returning from retirement and knee replacement surgery, a result that sets the stage for her to compete next February at the Winter Olympics in Italy. Vonn had not managed a World Cup podium since 2018.
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“With all that pressure, I just wanted to ski my best and I did,” Vonn said. “I still could have skied better. I know for next year that I belong on the podium. I know I belong on the podium right now. It was nice for me to be able to solidify what I already knew was possible. It helps that I don’t have people talking so much (negatively) about me all the time.”
“I answered a lot of people’s doubts today. And I never doubted myself. But that’s the only reason why I’m on the podium today is because I always believe in myself.” Vonn said she had felt close to a top effort but wasn’t able to pull together a complete race until being back on US soil. “I felt like I could have done this a while ago. I just haven’t been able to put all the pieces together until today,” she said.
Vonn admitted she has faced more mental challenges, and more critics saying she was too old, than she anticipated. “I’ve definitely had some tough moments and returning to racing has brought on some different and mental challenges that I didn’t even fully anticipate,” Vonn said. “It has been amazing this week to just get back to training. Repetition is the thing I felt like I lacked most this season with such a long period of time off snow. Now I have the time to settle in again and the thing I learned most about myself is my happy place is training, just skiing and getting the repetition and practicing and improving. That’s where I feel the safest and most secure and I hope to bring that mentally into racing again next season.”
Vonn, who turns 41 in October, has won 82 World Cup races, captured 138 podiums, and four World Cup overall titles with 16 discipline crowns. She’s hoping to add next year to an Olympic haul that includes 2010 downhill gold and super-G bronze plus 2018 downhill bronze. “A lot of people said when I retired at 33 that I was too old,” Vonn said. “Age is just a number. If you feel good and you’re mentally still driven and work hard you can achieve anything you set your mind to.”
“I did exactly what I needed to do. I literally gave every single last ounce of energy that I had. Last race of the season, at home, I had to deplete the gas tank and I did that. I could barely breathe at the end, maybe because I was crying.”
– Joy and satisfaction – Critics have helped boost her motivation to prove something this season. “Sometimes the negative voices drive me more than the positive ones,” Vonn said. “I use all that as fuel when it propelled me through some tough times this year. I knew that I could do it, and when I crossed the finish line, it was a little bit rough to be where I know I can be and to silence so many negative voices that have just been surrounding me for all season.”
“When you love something and you work hard at something, it feels really good when you’re finally rewarded. So it was joy, it was relief, it was satisfaction in the fact that this adventure that I set myself on is worth something, and it’s not for nothing.”
© 2024 AFP
