VANCOUVER — Lindsey Vonn’s dream of contending for multiple medals at the Vancouver Olympics is in jeopardy, and she’s not even certain she will be able to race.
Vonn crashed in slalom training Feb. 2 in Austria and suffered a boot-top injury of her right shin while toppling forward over her ski tips. She has chosen not to have the shin X-rayed, preferring not to know if the bone is broken or cracked, and is treating it as a deep muscle contusion.
“It was really bad luck,” Vonn said. “I injured my shin very badly, wasn’t able to really walk for the next two days. I have not skied since the injury. I don’t know how it’s going to feel. I tried just putting my boot on, in my hotel room, and I can tell you it’s excruciatingly painful.”
Vonn plans to test the injury Thursday in an official downhill training session on the course at Whistler, which may give her an indication whether she will be able to compete — and if so, how soon.
“I hoping that tomorrow, when I get on skis, things will be OK, but I honestly have no idea,” Vonn said. “I’m trying to stay positive.”
Vonn’s first scheduled event is the super combined on Sunday, an event in which she was expected to contend for a medal. In order to compete, she must at least start an official downhill training run. The super combined is a two-run race, a downhill and a slalom.
“It’s definitely the most painful injury I’ve ever had,” Vonn said. “It’s going to be very, very challenging and very difficult. All I can do is keep doing therapy, I have to try my best to push through it, and I think we’ll have a picture of how it’s going to look tomorrow.”
If healthy, Vonn would be considered the prohibitive favorite in the downhill, Feb. 17, and the super-G, three days later. Now she’s hoping the injury will heal enough over the next week to allow her to contend.
“It’s hard to stay positive,” Vonn said. “It’s hard to focus on just being prepared for these Olympics when you have such a big injury like this. It’s definitely changed my whole perspective coming into these Games, and definitely not the place I want to be.”
Vonn revealed her injury Wednesday in an interview with Matt Lauer on the Today Show. A few hours later she was the focus of attention in a U.S. Ski Team press conference in Vancouver.
“A week ago I won the last World Cup before these Games, I was feeling great, I was healthy, I had no problems,” Vonn said. “Now I’m sitting here questioning whether I’ll be able to ski. I have to stay positive. I, for sure, will be fighting every day to compete in all disciplines, but I have to play it by ear.”
Vonn hurt herself while testing slalom skis during a ski team training camp in Austria. The injury is problematic because racers apply pressure to the front of the boot with their shin when they want to turn. That would mean having the top of the boot press on the area of the shin that Vonn injured.
“I got twisted funny and went over the front of my skis,” Vonn said. “I hyper-extended my leg, and all the force went onto my shin. Thankfully it wasn’t bone, it’s only muscle, but it happens to be exactly where my boot hits my leg. It’s probably the worst place you can have an injury, because you’re constantly pushing against the boot and there’s no way around it. You can’t just pretend like it’s not there. You feel it in every turn.”
Vonn competed in severe pain at the last Olympics after a frightening crash in the second downhill training run on the Olympic course. She was airlifted from the mountain near San Sicario to a hospital in Turin, unsure if she would be able to compete in the race two days later. She could barely walk, but finished eighth.
Five days later she finished seventh in the super-G. Her performance despite extreme pain earned her the U.S. Olympic Spirit Award for the Turin Games.
“At this point it is just managing the pain and trying to make it heal as fast as possible,” Vonn said. “It’s essentially just bleeding of the muscle, a major contusion, so it’s not structurally going to cause any more damage. If I ski on it, it’s just a matter of dealing with the pain.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
