Lindsey Vonn had a gruesome crash in the women’s downhill event at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday, during which she suffered a broken leg just 12 seconds into her run after her pole clipped one of the gates, throwing her off balance.
Her father, Alan Kildow, was asked about her future in competitive skiing, and he made clear that he thinks this latest injury will mark the end of her career.
“She's 41 years old and this is the end of her career,” Kildow said via a telephone interview with the Associated Press. “There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”
Vonn arrived at the Olympics while already nursing a significant knee injury, having torn her ACL on Jan. 30 at a World Cup race in Switzerland. Now, after her latest brutal injury, her father is convinced that her career has reached its curtain call.
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Vonn has already undergone surgery on the broken leg she sustained Sunday. She faces a lengthy recovery process.
Speaking on her emotions in the aftermath of the latest injury blow, Kildow said, “She’s a very strong individual. She knows physical pain and she understands the circumstances that she finds herself in. And she’s able to handle it. Better than I expected. She’s a very, very strong person. And so I think she’s handling it real well.”
If this does mark the end of her skiing career, Vonn will go down as an all-time great. She has won three medals at the Olympics, including a gold medal in 2010 in the downhill, and ranks second all-time with 84 World Cup wins.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lindsey Vonn's Dad Addressed Her Skiing Future After Brutal Olympic Crash.
