We're used to athletes having rivalries with one another, but this is different Mancuso and Vonn are both sking for the same team in events where individual success is all that matters. The latest in this drama happened yesterday when Vonn crashed in her first GS run which forced Mancuso to be flagged while the medical staff tended to Vonn (she broke her finger). Mancuso had to return to the top and start over even though she was 75% done with her initial run and was in prime position to medal.
At first I thought how great it was that Vonn was able to ski after having a shin injury, let alone win gold. Now, my New England cynicism is getting the best of me and I think she was in better shape than she let on, and she said that she was hurt to psyche out her competition. Take yesterday's example: granted she did crash and was going pretty fast when she wound up in the net, but couldn't she have waved off the medical staff long enough for Mancuso to finish her run? It's not like she broke a leg, she broke a finger and could have easily put some snow on it and waited for the appropriate time to get medical help.
Vonn is a great skier, don't get me wrong, but this whole situation just sounds weird to me.
The real questions is, who would you rather...
ReplyDeleteAnonymous makes a good point. Can't really go wrong either way. (But Mancuso).
ReplyDeleteAnyone see Lindsey Vonn's interview with NBC after taking Bronze in the downhill? She couldn't enjoy it, just talked about what she could have done better. She has the perfect one-track mind of an Olympian: super competitive perfectionist, little personality, and a healthy dose of crazy. That also made me a little suspicious of her shin injury - gave her an excuse for a loss and a hero story if she won.
That being said, I can't blame Vonn for what happened yesterday. She took a pretty nasty fall and did break a bone. Nothing wrong with calling the medics over for that. The problem was they sped up the start intervals because of the deteriorating weather, so Mancuso started her run before Vonn could clear out. That's one's one the race organizers
As for the media attention, you can blame the media for that. I don't know if it's a blonde over brunette thing or what, but Vonn had tons of hype before the Games and Mancuso had none. Unless Vonn has publicists that I don't know about I don't think it's her fault. I do think the media dropped the ball on this - imagine a Dan and Dave type build-up to Vancouver with two hot female skiers on Team USA. I could have gotten into that.
*bronze in the super g, not downhill.
ReplyDeleteVery nice points, Benjamin. A Lindsay or Julia campaign would have been sweet.
ReplyDeleteMancuso.