Lindsey Vonn Looks for Second Olympic Gold Today in Combined

Seconds after concluding her downhill run yesterday, American Lindsey Vonn was exuberant as her name sat atop the leaderboard after 16 of 45 skiers. After 29 more women failed to match her time, the newly crowned gold medalist was incredibly teary and relieved.

Several hours later she had a beaming smile and seemed to hold back more tears as she received her first Olympic gold medal around her neck during the medals ceremony at the outdoor Whistler plaza.

Not even 24 hours removed from the downhill run that set off her emotion-filled evening, Vonn will need to refocus as she returns to the downhill course for the women's super combined event this morning in Whistler. The second portion of the event, the slalom, takes place later in the afternoon.

Vonn should face a tougher challenge today than she did in winning her best event, the downhill. As she displayed yesterday, Vonn should have an advantage over the rest of the field in the downhill portion of the event. There are, however, a number of competitors who are stronger than her in the more technical slalom portion of the competition. The question for Vonn may be if she can build a large enough lead in the morning to hold off the competition in the slalom in the afternoon.

At the end of her downhill run yesterday, Vonn seemed to be noticeably favoring her injured right shin. Due to weather delays, she had a number of days off to rest her shin before the downhill, and it remains to be seen if yesterday’s race will have any effect on her health for today’s competition.

There is also the mental aspect of having won gold yesterday. On the one hand, Vonn will be brimming with confidence and feel a sense of relief after having finally won her first Olympic gold. But at the same time, with all of the emotions she showed yesterday, one has to wonder how focused and determined she will be less than 24 hours later.

Aside from Vonn’s physical and mental dispositions, yesterday’s downhill is sure to play a vital role in how the combined unfolds today. After numerous crashes in the event yesterday, particularly over the course’s final jump, organizers have decided to lower the last jump and shorten the course so the women are not as fatigued when they reach it at the end.

Shortening the downhill portion of the event will not favor Vonn as it may reduce the size of an advantage she could build up before the slalom.

Yesterday’s crashes, however, may ultimately help her today in an event in which she was not favored to win gold. The two favorites, Anja Parson of Sweden and Maria Riesch of Germany, may both enter the day rattled from the crash-filled downhill.

Parson was in silver medal position as she headed for the last jump yesterday, but caught the air the wrong way and traveled over 150 feet in the air with her arms flailing, trying to brace herself for a nasty touch down. Parson managed to protect herself as she hit the ground but could not avoid crashing through a gate, which ripped her right ski off and left her in need of assistance to walk into the finish area.

Swedish officials said that she is fine and will compete today, but she looked far from it after her crash yesterday.

Riesch, meanwhile, managed a clean run down the mountain but admitted that she was affected by the crashes in front of her. The German took a conservative line down the course and stayed in her tucks for a long time and finished well out of the medals and more than two seconds slower than Vonn. If she has a similar run today, she will have too much time to make up in the slalom.

With question marks surrounding her two biggest rivals, Vonn may face her stiffest challenge from Austria’s Elisabeth Gorgl. Gorgl put together a solid run for the bronze in yesterday’s downhill and is a proficient slalom skier as well.

If she puts together clean runs in both the downhill and slalom, Vonn should find herself on the podium again. Making it another gold could prove a tougher task.