Vonn questions whether she will race at Olympics

February 11, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

The U.S. skier’s right shin is badly bruised and swollen.

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Lindsey Vonn took a deep breath, and her words trickled forth slowly, as she began to discuss the badly bruised and swollen right shin she fears could sideline her at an Olympics many predicted would become her personal showcase.

Indeed, almost anyone with any interest in the Vancouver Games — fans and competitors, yes, but also Vonn’s sponsors and NBC — must have been taken aback Wednesday when the U.S. star said: “I’m sitting here today questioning whether, you know, I’ll be even able to ski.”

Vonn revealed the injury publicly two days before the opening ceremony, and about a week after hurting herself during a slalom training run in Austria, cutting short her preparation.

As a two-time reigning overall World Cup champion, Vonn is considered a contender to win multiple medals and an overwhelming favorite in the downhill and super-G. And as an outgoing, autograph-signing, product-pitching American, she has been positioned as Vancouver’s answer to Beijing’s Michael Phelps.

For a day, at least, that all was thrown into doubt.

As it is, Vonn sought to distance herself from such comparisons, saying: “I’m not trying to be Michael Phelps. I’m just trying to be Lindsey Vonn, trying to do the best I can every day. Obviously with this injury, it’s going to be even more difficult than I was anticipating, but I’m just going to go out there and fight. That’s all I can do.”

The women have their first official training run at Whistler Mountain today, and Vonn is expected to try to test her leg then — perhaps, her husband said, with the help of painkillers or a local anesthetic to numb the affected area.

“We honestly don’t know how it’s going to respond,” said Thomas Vonn, a former U.S. Olympic skier who acts as a coach and adviser to his wife. “We’re going to go up and see tomorrow. We potentially could get up there and she could say, ’OK. This works. I can do this.’ And it could be not that big of a problem. Or she could get out there with the painkillers and she could say, ’There’s just no chance.’ ”

The first women’s Alpine race is Sunday’s super-combined. Those who have been around Vonn for years expect her to be in the starting gate, setting aside the agony the way she’s done so many times before.

“Knowing her — her competitive drive — if anyone could be ready to go when the gun goes off, it will be Lindsey Vonn,” U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association CEO Bill Marolt said.

Thomas Vonn thinks his wife might wind up sitting out a race or two before healing enough to be able to participate in later events.

“It is entirely possible that she could race in all five events and be fine. It is possible, for sure. I would be very, very surprised if she didn’t race in anything,” he told The Associated Press.

Still, he called the time since the injury “one of the more stressful weeks we’ve had ever in our lives ... and we still don’t know what the outcome will be.”

His wife did her best to smile through all of the camera clicks at Wednesday’s news conference, but she also paused and sighed occasionally while talking about the pain in her leg and the possibility of needing to pull out of one — or all — of her five events.