Birthdays, suits and bling
In all the hoopla of preparing for her sixth downhill victory at Lake Louise, Lindsey Vonn forgot
her husband’s birthday (on December 3). She took
the opportunity to apologize for her negligence at
the press conference following the race. “I love my
husband,” she said, shaking her head. “Vonn, I’m
so sorry.”
Also, as many have probably noticed, Vonn is
sporting a new race suit, which she donned for the
first time in her successful downhill race. But then she nearly ruined the rainbow colors on her way
down the course after kneeing herself in the chin and bleeding all over the place. Her new suit was one
of the first things to come to mind as she continued down the course in what turned out to be a winning
run. “I could just feel the blood coming down my face,” she said. “I was hoping I didn’t need stitches and
I was hoping it wasn’t getting all over my new suit. I was like, ‘Oh, not my suit!”
And Vonn is sporting new bling, courtesy of her new sponsor, Rolex. She wears the watch in slalom
racing but leaves it for after the race in speed events.
OUT OF THE GATE
WAXROOM
MEDALSPLAZA
Gold: To all the volunteers and staff
members behind the North American World
Cup races. We’re already counting down
to next year.
Silver: To the snowstorm that left some
Ski Racing members with difficult drives
— and some “stranded” in powder.
Bronze: To race secretary Thelma
Hoessler and timing guru Alan Church for
getting World Cup administration and
timing right for the last two decades.
Wooden: To the injected course at
Aspen, which created black ice and made
a shambles of the women’s slalom.
Potential groom, potential grooming
When U.S. tech star Ted Ligety tossed his glove
in the Lake Louise finish area, some female fans
seemed as if they were in training to catch the
bouquet. But no fists were thrown for the glove.
Alas, the Beaver Creek lasses had to make do
with a glimpse of the black mustache taped to
Shred’s face. Nice look, Ligety, but a bit late for
Movember. Can we see the real thing next year?
Going Viral
The Beaver Creek downhill press conference was
a lot of fun. “I want the same virus he had,” said
second-place finisher Didier Cuche of his younger
teammate and the day’s winner Carlo Janka,
whose summer training was minimized while he
was sick with an unknown virus. And speaking of
viral, Norway’s Aksel Lund Svindal fielded some
questions about his team’s dance performance in
Chile to Michael Jackson’s “Beat It,” which has become a Youtube sensation. “We were pretty lucky
with the camera angles or something because
everyone thinks it’s unbelievable,” said the third-place finisher. No word on whether we can look
forward to M. J.’s “Speed Demon” from Vancouver.
SHAUNA FARNELL (VONN, DUKE); ERIC WILLIAMS (LIGET Y, OSBORNE-PARADIS)
Hailey Duke, the Dog Whisperer
We said winner, not weiner…
What do champions eat? Right after winning
the Lake Louise super G, Canadian Manny
Osborne-Paradis polished off a Polish brat.
That’s the way they party in Canada, eh?
Any of the U.S. women racing at the Aspen Winternational will agree that the
crowd was spectacular this time around. With young fans clamoring for autographs, there were a few standouts that particularly grabbed the racers’ attention. This was one of those instances. Hailey Duke had her own personal fan club in
Aspen — handmade signs and
children screaming her name
— but it wasn’t until this four-legged Duke disciple, so overpowered with enthusiasm that
she almost jumped the fence to
get Duke’s attention, showed up
that the intensity really went up
a notch. Now that’s what we call
dogged devotion.
