Lindsey Vonn might not have exited with gold the way she dreamed of, but she is leaving Pyeongchang with metal hanging around her neck– albeit from a different element.
Related:Â Lindsey Vonn Loses To Snowboarder Who Raced On Mikaela Shiffrin’s Gear
Vonn took 3rd in the women’s downhill on Wednesday in South Korea behind Sofia Goggia of Italy and Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway. Her run was near perfect but in a world where hundredths of a second separate gold from bronze– it wasn’t good enough.
As the last racers crossed the finish line, Vonn got choked up during an interview with NBC Sports, “It’s sad, it’s my last downhill. I wish I could keep going; I wish this wasn’t my last Olympics but it is.” The winningest female ski racer of all time went on to praise the future of ski racing, namely Sofia Goggia who once idolized Vonn as a prodigy ski racer herself.
Lindsey Vonn had the perfect response to the internet trolls: another Olympic medal. https://t.co/2ZKW4G3jr4
— USA TODAY Sports (@usatodaysports) February 21, 2018
Perhaps the most underrated and underreported stat of the Vonn’s finish is the fact that by winning bronze, she also became the oldest alpine skier to ever win an olympic medal. For a 33-year old downhiller, it doesn’t get much grittier than that. Vonn will compete again today in the Alpine Combined.
*Congratulations to Lindsey Vonn.
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Find the entire USA Today recap here:Â Lindsey Vonn proves her mettle with a bronze in the downhill at 2018 Winter Olympics