Winter Olympics

From Next Phelps to Next Strug

Injured skier Lindsey Vonn was to win major medals.

One of the athletes getting the biggest buzz heading into the 2010 Winter Olympics has been Lindsey Vonn, the best female skier in American history who wore skis for the cover of one Sports Illustrated issue and a bikini inside another (the swimsuit issue). But Wednesday, Vonn gave a tearful press conference announcing that she’d severely bruised her lower right shin last week while training in Austria. The skiing phenom said she was scared she might not be at her best in the Olympics this month, if she can ski at all. Vonn said the injury is so bad she’d opt out of competing in one, or all five, of her events because it’s right where her ski boot hits, causing pain with every move. The skier has had rough Olympic luck—while training four years ago in Torino, she had to be air-lifted to the hospital following a bad crash. "She's a tough girl, and you can never discount Lindsey and how tough she is and how much she wants this," a ski team doctor said.