WHISTLER, British Columbia — When Lindsey Vonn was 9 years old, she met Olympic downhill silver medalist Picabo Street at a Minnesota ski shop and decided she wanted to be just like her someday.
Vonn turned out even better, and the Vail resident proved it Wednesday, becoming the first American woman to win an Olympic downhill. And Vonn did it despite a painful injury to her right shin that made her wonder in recent days if she could race.
No one was more impressed with Vonn’s historic achievement than the woman who inspired her 16 years ago.
“She’s given the U.S.A. something to be proud about,” Street said. “She’s given young dreamers a reason to dream, and that’s a beautiful thing. Now she is the greatest American female skier ever. She is a great champion, and she is so deserving.”
Julia Mancuso of Olympic Valley, Calif., took the silver medal, giving the U.S. multiple medals in the same alpine event for the first time since 1984.
Vonn left Minnesota for Vail when she was 12 because she wanted to become a downhiller and Minnesota didn’t have the mountains for it. Virtually everything she has done since was focused on what she achieved Wednesday: becoming Olympic downhill champion.
“I’ve worked my whole life for this,” Vonn said. “I’m even more thankful to win, considering all the troubles that I’ve had. It makes it very sweet to have this victory.”
Vonn won five of the six World Cup downhill races this season, so she would have been the prohibitive favorite if not for the “boot-top” injury she suffered Feb. 2 during slalom training in Austria. That injury brought high drama to a race that otherwise might have had little.
“It’s been a really tough couple of weeks,” Vonn said. “Pretty much having your Olympic dreams crushed, and fighting back from it, doing therapy and trying to get healthy again. I just tried to stay positive.”
Unhappy and in pain
After downhill training Monday, Vonn seemed a forlorn figure, walking off the mountain alone, unhappy and in obvious pain. Those close to her remembered the frightening crash she had in downhill training at the 2006 Turin Olympics that made her an also-ran there, and they worried her Olympic dream would be deferred another four years.
“Her whole career, and especially since (Turin), has been done for this moment,” said her husband, Thomas. “The eight-hour workouts, the sore mornings, skipping going out with your friends — all for this.”
Over the past three seasons, Vonn has been the best ski racer in the world, becoming the first American woman to win two World Cup overall titles and winning two gold medals at last year’s world championships.
Those are achievements only fans of ski racing notice. This was the Olympics, with America watching in prime time, but then the injury threatened to turn her dream into a nightmare.
“I am so happy,” said Vonn’s mother, Linda Krohn. “I am so relieved. I was concerned that after all this hard work, it wouldn’t happen. It was such a relief to see her ski as fast as she could, as hard as she could, and she won. It’s just the best.”
Vonn and Mancuso, both 25, have been friendly rivals since they were highly regarded teenagers coming up through the U.S. Ski Team development system. Mancuso had a great run Wednesday and enjoyed a lead of nearly a second over the field when Vonn got in the starting gate.
Nerves not an option
“I think Julia having a good run helped me,” Vonn said. “It helped me to be determined and be focused. She was nine-tenths (of a second) ahead, and I knew it wasn’t an option to be nervous. It wasn’t an option to ski passively. I had to really take it, I had to go out there and get it. No one was going to give it to me for free.”
Vonn will race again in today’s super-combined, another event in which she will be considered a strong contender. She also will be a favorite in Saturday’s super-G.
“A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” Vonn said. “I got the gold medal I came here to get. Now I’m just going to attack every day, with no regrets and no fear.”
That’s the way the flamboyant Street skied when she took downhill silver in 1994 and the super-G gold medal in 1998.
“She really inspired me, and that’s what I hope to do with this next generation of young skiers,” Vonn said. “I want to try to help our sport, make alpine skiing more popular and show everyone how great a sport it is. I want to get kids involved, and I want to be a good role model like Picabo was to me.”
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
