By: Jesse Liebman --
February 11, 2010
U.S. alpine skier Lindsey Vonn's chances at a gold medal may have taken a hit, after the Olympian revealed Wednesday that she had suffered a severe shin injury while preparing for her third Winter Olympics.
The injury, which skiers call a shin bang, occurs at the point where the front of the skier's book meets the leg. Vonn injured her leg during a slalom training exercise in Austria over a week ago.
"It's probably the worst place,'' Vonn said. "You can't pretend it's not there. It's with you on every turn.''
The opening ceremonies for the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver are scheduled to be held on Friday. It's still unclear if Vonn will be able to compete in Sunday's super combined event. She is scheduled to take a practice run later today to test the leg; Vonn must finish one of three official training runs to be eligible to compete.
Vonn, 25, has been billed as one of the U.S. Olympic team's biggest stars, and was recently featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
The loss of Vonn -- a two-time World Cup champion -- would be a serious blow to the U.S. Olympic team, which had her projected to win three gold medals based on her World Cup performances this season.
Vonn even went through several desperate -- some may say innovative -- techniques to treat the leg, including wrapping it in topfen, an Austrian cheese believed to have anti-inflammatory properties.
Vonn, who is the reigning world champion in both the downhill and super-G, said she won't use the injury as an excuse if she fails to win a medal.
"If I don't do well, so be it. You can be sure that when I'm in the starting gate -- if I'm in the starting gate -- that I'm in there to win.''
