World Cup overall champion Lindsey Vonn, a product of Ski Club Vail, reports regularly in collaboration with Denver Post ski writer John Meyer. Vonn won Monday’s downhill at the world championships, her second gold medal there.
VAL D’ISERE, FRANCE — The world championships downhill was delayed from Sunday to Monday because of weather, and while it was frustrating, it definitely helped me.
The wait was tough in some ways and good in others. It was good because I’ve had a brutal schedule for the past week and a half. I came here straight from two World Cup races in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, which I won. I was pretty tired but we pushed through the super-G here Tuesday, two days after the second race in Garmisch, then had downhill training runs and the super-combined on Friday. Super-combined days are always tough because they’re such long days with a downhill in the morning and a slalom run in the afternoon, so it was good to get two days off.
At the same time, it made me pretty anxious, especially after being disqualified in the super-combined for missing a gate in the slalom. You’re waiting and waiting and waiting. You just want to get it over with, and the anticipation was killing me.
It was good that they delayed it a day, though, because the snow conditions Sunday just were not acceptable for a world championships downhill. It was an appropriate decision and I knew I had to be ready for Monday, because most likely the race would happen then. I just rested up and got prepared and was ready when the time came.
Being only 24, I’ve thought a little bit about how high I could raise the bar as the standard for American ski racers before I retire, but it’s something that keeps you grounded. I look at, for instance, what Renate Goetschl of Austria has done — 24 World Cup downhill victories and 17 super-G wins. That’s humbling and makes me strive to be better. I’m so proud of what I’ve been able to accomplish so far with 18 World Cup wins.
I’m going to keep trying to win as much as possible, and reach as high as I can. I still feel like there’s a lot left in my career, but it’s not easy to win races. I have to make sure I keep working hard and hopefully I can continue to do well.
