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It might be different if Vonn had been part of a team event, and her risk-taking thus had the potential to undermine her colleagues. But skiing is primarily an individual discipline. One of the most individual, you might say, given that every racer must decide how far they push the envelope of possibility.
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It is certainly not for everyone. Tennis champion Jannik Sinner was a promising junior skier, once finishing second in a national giant-slalom race for 12-year-olds, but gave it up because “if you make one mistake, one big mistake, you cannot win”.
For Vonn, by contrast, that sense of ever-present danger is what gives life spice. “I’ve never been afraid,” she said this week. “I’ve always been the kid that climbs the tree. My grandpa always called me a daredevil. That’s why I’m a downhiller. I like risk. I like going fast. I like pushing myself to the limit.”
Hindsight now suggests that Vonn pushed herself too far. Will she regret her decisions? It’s perhaps too early to say. But as long as she recovers without life-limiting consequences, I suspect she will go away satisfied that she was true to herself.
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