Lyndsey Vonn triumphs
Thursday February 18, 2010 - Email this article to a friend

After yet another delayed Olympic ski race it proved to be full of drama. 

Not as close as The Men's Downhilll but full of excitement and accidents. 

Some commentators thought the course more difficult than the men's and the race far more exciting. 

On a bumpy and rutted course several women had dramatic falls.

The first women down the course fell, another slipped coming out of the start gate but the main accident was the Swedish racer Anja Paerson who flew over 60m in the air before an horrific crash.

It looked more like a ski jump as she took off after her weight was too far back. The crowd went silent as she landed in what looked like a severe crash.

She is reported to be OK and walked away, with help, and doctors are now examining her. It's uncertain if she will recover in time for the other alpine ski races.

But the gold was taken, as expected, by Lyndsey Vonn and the talk now is of how many others she will win. The headline "Vonn-couver" is already in use by many journalists.

Silver was taken by her fellow American, Julia Mancuso, and Elisabeth Goergl from Austria took the bronze.

Team GB tough should be pleased with the performance of Chemmy Alcott. The team would have liked a top 10 place, but 13th will suffice.

“This is an absolutely awesome downhill,” she said afterwards. “It’s the perfect women’s downhill, the best I’ve ever skied. And today Mother Nature did us a favour as well with the conditions.

“It’s bumpy, it’s icy and it’s great fun. You look at this and you think to yourself ‘this is what we do this sport for’.

“I lost a bit of time at the top in the soft stuff, and that affected my run. I think I could have gone quicker but I made a few silly mistakes. But it’s the Chemmy way - I went for it totally and when you ski like that, it’s hard to avoid a couple of tiny slips. It’s always like that with me.”

Respectable performanceBefore she raced Chemmy Alcott had this to say about the event and the course:

“I’m happy because, although I haven’t had that much training, my attitude is just “let’s turn up and go”. I’m happy to be less than perfectly prepared because I can trust in my ability to deal with whatever the course throws at me.

“It is a tough course. Some courses are as smooth as a baby’s bottom, but this one is very rough. There are waves on it that are really fearsome. It’s going to be really challenging.”

How right she was!

We will bring you an updated report later and for the results see here.

The women are back in action on Thursday in the Super Combined.  First it is the  Downhill and then the Slalom.

NEWS UPDATE, THURSDAy 22.00; The Super Combined was won by Maria Reisch after Vonn crashed out.  Alcott came 11th

The skeleton competition gets underway on Thursday too and britian has some good chances of success.

Team GB’s Amy Williams has been in stunning form going into the competition, setting the second fastest times in three of the last four training runs.

She is joined by Team GB Flag Bearer and Turin 2006 silver medallist Shelley Rudman. Kristan Bromley and Adam Pengilly contest the men¹s event. Both competitions reach their climax on Friday.

The next 2 days in Canada are probably the best chances for British medal success.

Amy Williams in action

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