It amazes me the amount of people on this app that think Vonn’s torn ACL caused her to crash.
It did not.
It was her right pole, clipping the gate.
Which caused her ARM to be out of position, twisting her torso mid air, she became unbalanced and that led to the crash.
Incredibly bad luck as she was fully going for it on her run. Just cut it a few centimeters too close on that gate and failed.
1. This particular type of crash wasn’t predictable.
(Although it is eerie that she was wearing number 13 on her bib.)
2. It wasn’t selfish of her to race.
She earned the spot, she completed two training runs and was 3rd overall yesterday with a real chance to medal.
3. And it was not unusual.
Crashes happen in Alpine skiing. Every Olympics. Every race on the World Cup circuit. It’s part of the nature of the sport.
Again, the cause had nothing to do with her ACL.
By the way, one of the first skiers in yesterday’s men’s downhill also competed with a torn ACL. Didn’t win but made it down the mountain. Only difference was his wasn’t as recent or newsworthy of an injury.
Part of what made her a champion in so many races was her aggressiveness. It didn’t work out today. That’s it.
Why people are vilifying her I will never understand.