Vonn Gets Back on Skis and Likes the Results

WHISTLER, British Columbia — The first step for Lindsey Vonn came Wednesday night when she slipped her right foot into her ski boot and did not yelp. In recent days, trying on her boots had been so painful she had refused to try.

The next step was early Thursday morning when Vonn took pain-killing medicine and, on the advice of her Austrian therapists and American ski team doctor, rubbed a numbing cream on the severe shin bruise she sustained in training Feb. 2. Later that morning, on the race course above Whistler, Vonn was on skis and gingerly examined the gate set-up, sliding slowly on the snow. Encouraged by how her shin felt, she told her husband and coach, Thomas, that she wanted to ski a warm-up run, or free run, as ski racers refer to skiing outside of gates.

“I told her it had to be a real free run at decent speed,” Thomas Vonn said hours later. “It wasn’t going to be slipping and sliding down the hill.”

So the Vonns headed to a trail next to the race course. Lindsey, the two-time defending World Cup champion and a multiple gold medal favorite at the 2010 Vancouver Games, went first. Thomas followed.

“She was pressuring the boot and making real turns,” Thomas said. “She looked solid. At the bottom, she was in pain but smiling. It wasn’t a run at full race speed, but it was a solid step. I haven’t seen her smile like that in a while.”

Vonn, in a statement released by the United States ski team, said: “I was happy to be back on snow. My shin was still very painful, but I feel like the injury is finally progressing a bit.”

Based on how she felt in that warm-up run, Vonn decided to attempt the super combined training run scheduled for about an hour later. The training run, however, was canceled because of fog and heavy snow — to the delight of both Vonns, who welcomed another day of rest for Lindsey’s injury. Another training run was scheduled for Friday. The super combined, which is one downhill run combined with one slalom run, is Sunday.

Two women did start their training runs Thursday. Lucia Recchi of Italy went first, standing up to slow down in the lower section of the course, which was shrouded in fog. But Recchi finished. The second skier, the American Stacey Cook, crashed coming off a jump and slammed at high speed into the protective netting at the course’s edge.

On impact with the fence, one of Cook’s poles catapulted 150 feet down the hill. Lying in the snow, Cook writhed in pain for more than a minute. She briefly stood before sitting back in the snow. She was later airlifted from the mountain via helicopter and taken to a Whistler medical facility, from which she was later released. The ski team said that X-rays for Cook were negative and that she was still scheduled to compete in the super combined.

The training run, delayed for 15 minutes for the Cook crash, never resumed as the visibility continued to deteriorate.

While the women were waiting, the men completed their downhill training on a shortened course. For a second consecutive day, the Swiss skier Didier Cuche was fastest, although his Thursday run was disqualified because he missed a gate. Second place on Thursday went to Austria’s Michael Walchhofer. The American Bode Miller was eighth after finishing seventh in Wednesday’s training, and his teammate Andrew Weibrecht was 10th for the second successive day.

But most of the post-run conversation among the men was about the weather and its effect on the course. The men’s downhill is scheduled for Saturday.

“The snow is good at the top but it is soft and like corn — spring snow — at the bottom,” said Carlo Janka, another medal favorite from the Swiss team. “You have to adjust and you have to wonder when it is going to change on you. The fog, the soft, wet snow that is falling has changed things.

“It’s probably not going to get any different. Not with the weather forecast for more days like today. It’s not going to get cold enough to change. I’m not sure if we’ll even get in any more training.”

The weather delays were nothing but good news to the Vonns.

“We love Whistler weather,” Thomas said, laughing. “At this point, we’ll take all the delays we can get. Obviously, in terms of healing, it helps that Lindsey did not have to put any more stress on her shin today. One warm-up run is not asking as much as a real run down the race course. The forces when you’re racing are much greater.”

Lindsey, who had been scheduled to be the 15th racer in training, said: “I am always disappointed when a training run is canceled, but in this situation I definitely welcome the extra day to heal.”

Thomas said his wife’s mind-set was much improved.

“It had been pretty grim for a while,” he said. “It was pretty sad. But beginning last night when we tried on the boot and it felt better, things started to pick up. And today, she was definitely happy.

“All she wants to do is get to where she can push through the pain. She can grit her teeth and do it. Before it was just debilitating. She believes she can push through a lot. But we needed some progress, some hope, and today we got it.

“It may not be a popular thing to say, but now I’m rooting for a blizzard so she can have a lot more time to rest.”

The forecast for Friday, Saturday and Sunday is for more snow, mixed with rain and fog. There are off days in the Vancouver Olympic Alpine race schedule Monday, Feb. 15, and Thursday, Feb. 18.