Lindsey Vonn knows her time atop the leaderboard is almost over.
Vonn acknowledged in an Instagram post that she will soon lose her spot atop the season downhill standings, possibly as early as Saturday, March 7. She’s held the No. 1 spot since winning the first downhill of the season in December, but a crash during the Olympic downhill last month left her with severe, season-ending injuries to her left leg and right ankle.
‘At the beginning of the season no one would have ever believed I would be even close to this position. And I bet people would have laughed if it was even suggested. But winning the title was my goal… and I came painfully close to achieving it,’ Vonn wrote.
‘… Even though in a few days no one will remember that I almost won the season title, I will remember,’ she said. ‘I didn’t want to win the title to prove anything to anyone. I did it because I knew I could. I just wish I had a chance to fight until the end to try and get it…’
Vonn suffered a complex tibial fracture in her left leg and fractured right ankle during the Olympic crash, which occurred after she hooked a gate. She later revealed she also had compartment syndrome, and said she could have lost her leg if not for her longtime orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tom Hackett.
Excessive pressure building up inside a muscle, either from bleeding or swelling, causes compartment syndrome. The pressure restricts blood flow and can lead to permanent injury if not treated quickly. Hackett performed a fasciotomy to relieve the pressure while Vonn was hospitalized in Italy.
Vonn has since been released from the hospital and has already begun physical therapy and rehab.
Though Vonn had a sizeable lead in the World Cup season downhill standings leading into the Milano Cortina Olympics, there were still four races left after the Games. Her injury opened the door for other skiers to make a run at the season title, and Emma Aicher of Germany is now just 14 points behind Vonn after finishing second in the first of two downhills this weekend in Val di Fassa, Italy.
Italy’s Laura Pirovano and Germany’s Kira Weidle-Winkelmann are also within 100 points of Vonn with two races left. Points are earned based on the order of finish, with 100 points awarded for first place, 80 for second place, 60 for third and so on.
Sad as she is not to win the downhill title, which would have been her ninth, Vonn said she knows it doesn’t diminish what she accomplished this season. She was on the podium for every downhill race, winning two of them. That made her, at 41, the oldest woman to win a World Cup race, and she did it after being retired for almost six years.
Vonn also was skiing after having a partial replacement of her right knee, a first for an elite-level skier.
‘Those memories aren’t washed away because of a title,’ Vonn wrote. ‘My tears just mean I care. I always have. That’s why I work so hard. Skiing is my passion. Whether I’ll ever be able to do it again is yet to be seen. But at least I have the memories, with or without a title, I feel privileged to have had this adventure.’