A bit of bad news today: Lindsey Vonn, one of the US Olympic ski team’s most talked-about athletes, said today at a press conference that she has a bruised shin, which may prevent her from competing in her sport, alpine skiing, at the Vancouver Games next week. She said she’ll be back on skis tomorrow for the first time since last Wednesday, when her injury occurred.
Vonn has had some controversial press coverage lately—a recent profile of her from the New York Times magazine which Feministing.com criticized for "essentially portray[ing] her as a helpless, albeit competitive, pawn caught between a series of domineering men--first her father, then her husband, frequently her beleaguered coaches." This month, Sports Illustrated had her in a heavily-debated pose on their cover.
Is it sexualized or just a skiing position?
Vonn deserves all the support she can get, though—in the 2006 Turin Olympic Games, she crashed on a training run but still raced two days later. She came in eighth. While she’s won nearly every other race she’s competed in since then, we can only hope that she gets to add an Olympic medal to her shelf.
[photo of SI cover via Gather.com]
[photo of Vonn courtesy TeamUSA.org]
