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After all the delays, Vonn shines light on Alpine
Source: Agencies |
February 18, 2010, Thursday
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Online Edition
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LINDSEY Vonn survived a crash course in downhill skiing and emerged with a gold medal yesterday that confirms her as America's sweetheart of the Vancouver Olympics.
The 25-year-old Vonn, downhill world champion and World Cup leader, beat Julia Mancuso to give the United States a 1-2 finish in an opening women's Alpine race on a bumpy and icy course.
Vonn went out 10th and sped down the Franz's Downhill course in 1 minute, 44.19 seconds, 0.56 seconds ahead of Mancuso. Austria's Elisabeth Goergl was next, 1.46 seconds back.
"I gave up everything for this. It means everything to me ... It's awesome," said the glamorous Vonn, who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated's Olympic preview edition, which described her as America's best woman skier ever.
The north American media has followed every step of her recovery from a shin injury in minute detail for the last two weeks.
"I dreamed about what this would feel like, but it is much better in real life," Vonn said. "I can't stop crying. This is everything that I ever wanted and hoped for ... standing here today at the finish and to win, is amazing."
The United States moved atop the medal table with gold medal No. 4 later yesterday when speedskater Shani Davis defended his title in the 1,000 meters, finishing in 1:08.94 in the last pairing to shave 18-hundredths off South Korean Mo Tae-bum's earlier time.
In the cross country, Nikita Kriukov picked up Russia's first gold medal of the games when he edged compatriot Alexander Panzhinskiy in a photo finish in the men's sprint, both finishing in 3:36.3.
Marit Bjoergen won her first Olympic gold medal - ending an eight-year drought in Olympic cross-country races for Norway, where it is considered a national sport - when she pulled away from Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk and pre-race favorite Petra Majdic of Slovenia in the women's sprint. Majdic skied in severe pain after injuring her ribs in a training crash.
Up at Whistler, where clear, blue skies gave no hint of how bumpy the downhill course would be, spectators with "Vonncouver" ski hats and cowbells cheered wildly while Vonn raced down the course, the noise escalating as she skied across the finish and collapsed on her back in triumph.
Other skiers collapsed in pain after a series of spectacular crashes. Romania's Edith Milkos somersaulted out of control and had to be airlifted off the course by a helicopter.
Anja Paerson, who won a gold in the slalom and bronze in the downhill at the 2006 Olympics, had been in silver medal position until she lost control on the final jump, soared 50 meters through the air and crashed through the last gate.
Dominique Gisin of Switzerland wiped out near the same spot. Marion Rolland of France, who was fifth in the downhill at the last world championships, barely made it away from the start before an awkward fall.
It was another concern for the Alpine program, which is way behind schedule due to the conditions at Whistler.
Organizers solved one of the many man-made issues that have overshadowed the games by opening a viewing ramp yesterday to get people closer to the Olympic cauldron on the Vancouver waterfront.
Vancouver Olympics organizing committee CEO John Furlong hit back at critics, saying much of the criticism of the games is untrue and unfair.
"When we make mistakes, we have to fix them. We did plan for every eventuality imaginable," he said, adding that "Everything is going well" and the atmosphere is "quite euphoric."
Furlong spoke at a news conference the morning after a surging crowd at a free concert caused a barricade to collapse, leaving 19 people injured.
Nine were taken to the hospital, including one with a suspected broken leg, City of Vancouver officials said.
Organizers canceled the concert and were to replace the barricade so that the Live Nation venue could reopen yesterday.
Luge competition continued with gold at stake in men's doubles later yesterday on the same course where 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a training run tomorrow, hours before the games' opening ceremony.
Kumaritashvili's body arrived back in Bakuriani, a village of about 1,500 located in one of Georgia's most popular winter sports regions, early yesterday.
The 25-year-old Vonn, downhill world champion and World Cup leader, beat Julia Mancuso to give the United States a 1-2 finish in an opening women's Alpine race on a bumpy and icy course.
Vonn went out 10th and sped down the Franz's Downhill course in 1 minute, 44.19 seconds, 0.56 seconds ahead of Mancuso. Austria's Elisabeth Goergl was next, 1.46 seconds back.
"I gave up everything for this. It means everything to me ... It's awesome," said the glamorous Vonn, who appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated's Olympic preview edition, which described her as America's best woman skier ever.
The north American media has followed every step of her recovery from a shin injury in minute detail for the last two weeks.
"I dreamed about what this would feel like, but it is much better in real life," Vonn said. "I can't stop crying. This is everything that I ever wanted and hoped for ... standing here today at the finish and to win, is amazing."
The United States moved atop the medal table with gold medal No. 4 later yesterday when speedskater Shani Davis defended his title in the 1,000 meters, finishing in 1:08.94 in the last pairing to shave 18-hundredths off South Korean Mo Tae-bum's earlier time.
In the cross country, Nikita Kriukov picked up Russia's first gold medal of the games when he edged compatriot Alexander Panzhinskiy in a photo finish in the men's sprint, both finishing in 3:36.3.
Marit Bjoergen won her first Olympic gold medal - ending an eight-year drought in Olympic cross-country races for Norway, where it is considered a national sport - when she pulled away from Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk and pre-race favorite Petra Majdic of Slovenia in the women's sprint. Majdic skied in severe pain after injuring her ribs in a training crash.
Up at Whistler, where clear, blue skies gave no hint of how bumpy the downhill course would be, spectators with "Vonncouver" ski hats and cowbells cheered wildly while Vonn raced down the course, the noise escalating as she skied across the finish and collapsed on her back in triumph.
Other skiers collapsed in pain after a series of spectacular crashes. Romania's Edith Milkos somersaulted out of control and had to be airlifted off the course by a helicopter.
Anja Paerson, who won a gold in the slalom and bronze in the downhill at the 2006 Olympics, had been in silver medal position until she lost control on the final jump, soared 50 meters through the air and crashed through the last gate.
Dominique Gisin of Switzerland wiped out near the same spot. Marion Rolland of France, who was fifth in the downhill at the last world championships, barely made it away from the start before an awkward fall.
It was another concern for the Alpine program, which is way behind schedule due to the conditions at Whistler.
Organizers solved one of the many man-made issues that have overshadowed the games by opening a viewing ramp yesterday to get people closer to the Olympic cauldron on the Vancouver waterfront.
Vancouver Olympics organizing committee CEO John Furlong hit back at critics, saying much of the criticism of the games is untrue and unfair.
"When we make mistakes, we have to fix them. We did plan for every eventuality imaginable," he said, adding that "Everything is going well" and the atmosphere is "quite euphoric."
Furlong spoke at a news conference the morning after a surging crowd at a free concert caused a barricade to collapse, leaving 19 people injured.
Nine were taken to the hospital, including one with a suspected broken leg, City of Vancouver officials said.
Organizers canceled the concert and were to replace the barricade so that the Live Nation venue could reopen yesterday.
Luge competition continued with gold at stake in men's doubles later yesterday on the same course where 21-year-old Nodar Kumaritashvili died in a training run tomorrow, hours before the games' opening ceremony.
Kumaritashvili's body arrived back in Bakuriani, a village of about 1,500 located in one of Georgia's most popular winter sports regions, early yesterday.
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