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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Thursday, February 11, 2010

Winter Olympics: Vonn feeling positive after testing her shin


By Craig Hill
McClatchy Newspapers

WHISTLER, British Columbia — Lindsey Vonn was happy with the way she skied on her injured leg Thursday morning during her first Olympic training run and her husband says “it seems like it’s turning a corner.”

The heavily favored racer might have gotten a break from the weather too. Fog forced the cancellation of training after just two women skiers giving Vonn more time to heal.
“It was positive, for sure,” said Thomas Vonn, Vonn’s husband. “She had a smile today.”
Before Thursday, Vonn said his wife wouldn’t even put on her ski boots because it made her sad. Vonn injured her shin in a training accident last week putting her participation in the games in doubt.
Thomas Vonn said Vonn could barely walk on the leg last week. On Thursday, Vonn used painkillers and numbing cream before taking the course.
She side-slipped the course during inspection then took a free run to test her shin. She did not favor the injured leg, Thomas Vonn said.
“It wasn’t good, but it worked,” Vonn said. “... Compared to where she was, she’ll take that.
“ ’I can fight through that,’ is what she was saying.”
Vonn enters the games as Team USA’s biggest star. She is favored to win the downhill and super-G and is a strong contender in the combined, the first women’s event which will be staged Sunday.
She still plans to ski in all five events at the Olympics.
“We’re taking it day by day,” Vonn said.
Thursday was her first time on skis since her crash. She couldn’t walk last week because she was in so much pain.
“Compared to where her emotional state was last week, it was a fantastic day today,” Vonn said.
The training was canceled after two racers because of fog. The second skier, American Stacey Cook, took a nasty fall when on a jump. She crashed into the fence and was airlifted off the mountain.
Thomas Vonn wouldn’t mind some more delays.
“We’ve heard a lot about Whistler weather and we welcome it at this point,” Vonn said.
In men’s training, Bode Miller post the best time for the U.S. while skiing on an abbreviated course. He was eighth. Michael Walchhofer of Austria posted the best time. Didier Cuche of Switzerland would have won the training run but he was disqualified for missing a gate.