I dropped in on our women's Olympic ski team this morning to see how the 
great American skiier, Lindsey Vonn, is recovering.  Lindsey, who could have won multiple medals, now is a big question mark even to compete.  She suffered a deep bruise on her upper shin  from a fall while training in Austria February 2 and has not skiied since.

The bruise is right at the height where her ski boot rubs on it, making it extremely painful when she tries just to put on her boot, much less ski.

Normally, our downhill and slalom team look a lot like "Ned And The Third Grade Readers" competing against the great Austrian, Swedish, Norwegian, and Canadian skiiers. Well, after all, what else are you gonna' do growing up in those countries except ski?  
We Americans are just cheering for our guys to make it down the hill without "wiping out."  Winning?  Not even on our radar.
Last bona fide women's competitor we had with a chance to medal in alpine skiing was Peekabo Street, who" peeked her head out from the one main "street" in Triumph, Idaho, just long enough to win a silver at Lillehammer in '94 and a gold at Nagano in '98. 
Peekabo retired after the Nagano Games, supposedly to live prosperly ever after on the big bucks she made from endorsements.  She married in '08 and is now residing in wedded bliss in Alabama with her two sons, one from a previous relationship and a newborn with her husband.
Then Lindsey Vonn burst on the world skiing scene, becoming an "overnight sensation" after years of brutal training, scores of injuries and competition in two previous Olympics, where she failed to medal.  To put in perspective how she has dominated women's skiing these last few years, consider this.  Peekabo won but two world titles and nine world cups--all in the downhill.  She never won an overall World Cup championship.

Vonn is the first American woman to win back-to-back overall World Cup championships, doing so in 2008 and 2009. She has also won World Cup discipline championships in downhill (also back-to-back) and Super G (the first American woman to do so). With 31 World Cup wins in four disciplines (downhill, Super G, slalom and super combined) and two World Championship gold medals (plus two World Championship silver medals), she has become the most successful American woman skier in World Cup history.

 

Vonn shows reporters in Vancouver the area of her injury.
When she arrrived in Vancouver yesterday, all other news, including a controversy over judging brewing once more in figure skating, the concern about the warm temperatures, and the of lack of snow were forgotten as reporters rushed to interview Vonn, who has said she will know more today after she tries a practice run whether she will compete in the first alpine event scheduled for Saturday.
At the 2010 Winter Olympics, Vonn is scheduled to compete in five events... she has said the pain from her injury was "excruciating" and she will have a difficult time competing at the Winter Olympics.   However, her husband, and one of her coaches, said he expects Vonn, who often competes with injuries, to race.
How successful she will be remains to be seen.