bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

hooksAmpRedirectArticle

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

paywallTypes

createdDate

publishedDate

sponsorType

urlAlias

moreOnThisArticles

commentCount

authorLocations

authors

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

articleSpeeches

socialHeadline

headline

images

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

sponsor

pdfFiles

seriesReverseOrder

series

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

readingTime

customTimezone

liveContents

Associated Press

The final stage of Lindsey Vonn’s journey back to the Olympics wound past lonely farmhouses and ice-choked rivers along the narrow road up to the Jeongseon Alpine Centre.
The most successful women’s skier in World Cup history waited almost eight years to return, suffering through heartbreak and serious injuries.
But Vonn’s blitz down the glistening super-G course at the Pyeongchang Olympics on Saturday ended in disappointment.
She finished tied for sixth and wondered what might have been if not for a time-killing mistake on a turn late in the race.
“I thought it was going to be really great or really bad,” said Vonn, competing in her fourth Olympics. “It didn’t turn out the way I hoped. … I did the best that I could. But I’m so proud of my performance. I gave it everything I have.”

The road here wasn’t easy.
After Vonn won a gold medal in the downhill at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, she suffered a broken left ankle, fractures in her left knee, a broken right arm and, most seriously, a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her right knee. That injury forced her out of the Sochi Games.
And there’s the heartbreak that includes a divorce in early 2013 and a relationship with Tiger Woods before they split up in 2015.




All the while, Vonn piled up victories on the World Cup circuit. A pair of downhill wins last month pushed her career total to 81. That’s the most by any woman and short of only the 86 by Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark.
Vonn started first on Saturday, putting her in the difficult position of not getting feedback on the course conditions from other skiers and fighting a headwind. In the final stretch, she took a sharp left turn too wide and almost lost control. If the turn had been clean, she would have been in contention for gold.
“I made one mistake and that cost me a medal,” she said.

After skidding to a stop in front of the grandstand – supporters had a sign reading “She wins if she Vonns” – she shook her head, then mouthed: “I tried.”
The dramatics came long after Vonn finished.
The 26th skier to start, Ester Ledecka of the Czech Republic, is a snowboarding champion with only a handful of podium finishes in World Cup events. By the time she perched in the starting gate, the big names already had raced and the event seemed all but over.




But a gasp went up from the crowd when Ledecka, who trains in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, crossed the finish line a hundredth of a second better than first-place Anna Veith of Austria.
Ledecka, 22, froze in disbelief. She didn’t celebrate. She looked stunned.
“Pure Ester,” said Justin Reiter, her snowboard coach and a former US Olympian.

Later, Ledecka said she believed her time was a mistake and waited for a couple of seconds to be added. Instead, she ended up with the gold medal. Veith, the defending champion, took silver and Lichtenstein’s Tina Weirather came in third.
At the post-race news conference, Ledecka declined to remove her goggles.
“I was not prepared being at this ceremony and I don’t have no make-up,” she said.
The room erupted in laughter.
Ledecka’s Olympics aren’t done. She’s also competing in the snowboard parallel giant slalom and will become the first athlete to ski and snowboard in the same Games.
More competition remains for Vonn, too. She is the favourite in Wednesday’s downhill at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre.
“I’ve been waiting eight years for this. I’m super happy,” she said. “I would be more disappointed if I came down slow and not pushing myself. … Everything lined up except for one turn.”


South Korea’s Olympic winners: the fury and the fall from grace for top speed skaters

Winter Olympics: Hong Kong’s plans for a top-class ice rink ‘a gift’ and ‘leap forward’, short-track speedskaters say

Winter Olympics: China’s cross-country progress to ignite new generation of snow sports fans, team chief Zhang Bei says

Winter Olympics: China’s top 10 hopes for Beijing include teen stars and serial gold-medal winners

Pyeongchang Winter Olympics 2018

Lindsey Vonn’s Olympics heartbreak goes on as one wrong turn costs her a medal at Pyeongchang

Lindsey Vonn reacts after crossing the finish line of the women’s super-G at the Jeongseon Alpine Center. Photo: AFP

United States' Lindsey Vonn talks to the media after her run in the women's super-G at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Jeongseon, South Korea, Saturday, Feb. 17, 2018. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

TOPSHOT - Winner Czech Republic's Ester Ledecka (C) celebrates on the podium next to Liechtenstein's Tina Weirather (R), third placed, and Austria's Anna Fenninger Veith, second placed, during the victory ceremony of the Women's Super-G at the Jeongseon Alpine Center during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang on February 17, 2018. Czech snowboarder Ester Ledecka sprang one of the biggest shocks in Winter Games history when she won the super-G with US star Lindsey Vonn finishing sixth. / AFP PHOTO / Martin BERNETTI

TOPSHOT - USA's Lindsey Vonn reacts after crossing the finish line of the Women's Super-G at the Jeongseon Alpine Center during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang on February 17, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Martin BERNETTI

Sport

Other Sport

After waiting almost eight years to return to Winter Olympics, the American finishes tied for sixth after late error


Lindsey Vonn’s Olympics heartbreak goes on as one wrong turn costs her a medal at Pyeongchang

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}After waiting almost eight years to return to Winter Olympics, the American finishes tied for sixth after late error

After waiting almost eight years to return to Winter Olympics, the American finishes tied for sixth after late error