Alpine Skiing: Vonn confident despite left hand injury – AFP News : Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics and Paralympics
Washington (AFP) – Alpine World Cup ski star Lindsey Vonn is confident she will be in top form for the Vancouver Olympic Winter Games next month despite a bruised left hand that still bothers the American in slalom runs.
The two-time defending World Cup overall champion said Thursday in a conference call with reporters that the left hand she injured a month ago in Lienz, Austria, continues to improve and her confidence continues to grow.
“The arm is getting better every day,” Vonn said. “It has just been a struggle on slalom this year. I think things will be fine for all the other disciplines but it will be difficult for the slalom.”
Vonn, 25, suffered a training crash at Turin just before the 2006 Olympics that wiped her out as a medal favorite, even though she fought back to return.
This year, she enters Vancouver as the reigning world downhill and Super-G champion and a hunger to claim an Olympic medal after a season in which she has dominated rivals.
“It’s going to be difficult to not let the expectations get to me,” Vonn said. “I have high expectations. I just have to do by best not to let the distractions get to me.”
Being the target of every rival in every race has taken a toll, Vonn admitted.
“It’s hard. I’ve been the one they consistently want to beat,” Vonn said. “It’s hard to stay focused and keep your concentration. It’s going to be a lot harder at these Olympics but hopefully it will be more rewarding as well.”
Struggles in the slalom since the hand injury had delivered a punch to Vonn’s confidence but she has since rebounded, especially after strong results in the past month.
“It’s getting back the confidence,” she said. “It had been a downward spiral. It’s not weighing on me. I’ve been able to bounce back from the bad slalom results and have great speed results.
“I know I can do it. It’s a matter of if I have confidence in myself. I have a lot of time before the slalom race in the Olympic Games. I think I will be fine.
“I have a lot of confidence in downhill and Super-G. It helps when you start off strong. I kept that confidence going despite the hand injury. Confidence is why I’ve still been able to do well in downhill and Super-G.”
After this weekend’s World Cup races in Switzerland, Vonn will train for a few days then return to the United States for several days off and arrive in Canada on February 9.
“There are definitely going to be a lot of days off. That’s definitely what I need right now,” Vonn said. “I’ve been grinding away pretty hard on the World Cup tour. It will be good to be rested and refocused on Whistler.”
Vonn has heard good things about the snow on the mountains near Vancouver, a host city that the US star’s friends have taken to calling “Vonn-couver”.
“It’s pretty funny,” Vonn said. “My friends started that in Aspen. They always have the Vonn-tourage. I dont really take it to heart. It’s something someone made up. It’s a funny little slogan. It’s cute.”
js/cw