Lindsey Vonn says she's sorry for hurting Julia Mancuso's medal chances

The sometimes contentious rivalry between U.S. skiers Lindsey Vonn and Julia Mancuso took a bizarre twist Wednesday after Vonn crashed in the morning run of giant slalom and forced Mancuso to restart her run.

You almost can't make this up. Vonn drew the No. 17 bib for the giant slalom with Mancuso skiing right behind her. Because of poor weather conditions, the racers were sent off in one-minute intervals to speed up the event.

Vonn was in the lead and well into her run when Mancuso left the start gate. After Vonn crashed into the netting near the bottom of the course, Mancuso was flagged by a course-side jury member and had to return to the start gate.

Mancuso, the defending Olympic champion in the giant slalom, ended up restarting at No. 31 and finished a disappointing 1.30 seconds out of the lead, in 18th place. Mancuso left the mixed area in tears, without comment, after her run. She will race again in the afternoon.

"I feel terrible," Vonn said. "I hope she understands. I didn't want that to happen for the both of us."

Vonn has won gold and bronze at the Vancouver games and Mancuso has two silver medals.

Mancuso, after the race, posted to her Twitter account: "That yellow flag in GS was such...I just want to scream. I'm really miffed. Anyway, gotta take that energy and focus it on second run."

Vonn, who has never finished in the top three of a World Cup giant slalom, caught an edge with her right ski, forcing her left knee to hit her chin. She crashed back-first into safety netting and later said she injured her right pinkie.

Vonn was leading the race by .35 after the third interval when she crashed.

"I know she was disappointed," Vonn said of Mancuso. "I know she's mad and probably frustrated. She's probably mad at me, but I can't help that I fell. I was having a great run. I wish I could have come down and not have her be flagged. That's absolutely not what I wanted, but it happened and it happens in ski racing."

Vonn also said she has been hurt by comments directed at her by Mancuso.

Vonn, Mancuso, Bode Miller and Andrew Weibrecht made the cover of Sports Illustrated this week for combining to win a U.S.-record eight medals. But there has been an undercurrent of tension.

Mancuso said last week that she wished the rest of the U.S. ski team got more attention. She then told SI.com, "You come to meetings after races and it's like it's a bad day if Lindsey didn't do well."

Vonn's response: "I try to support Julia as much as I support all the other teammates. I've been racing with Julia since I was a little kid and yes, we're competitors, but I always support her. It definitely has hurt me that she has said some negative things about me. All I can do is to continue to support her the way I always have been, and hope that she reciprocates that. I'm always proud that an American is doing well and I was proud of her for being on the podium in downhill and super combined. It just bums me out."

Stay tuned for Mancuso's post-race comments. 

-- Chris Dufresne in Whistler, Canada

Top photo: Julia Mancuso reacts following her run in the giant slalom on Wednesday. Credit: Sergey Ponomarev. Bottom photo: Lindsey Vonn finishes after crashing during the giant slalom. Credit: Stephan Jansen / EPA

Comments

[mark]

Grow up, both of you.

[Will]

Absolutely inexcusable that they ran this race like this. NO skier should be coming down a hill that has another skier on it further down. This isn't Vonn's fault, or Mancuso's, it's the people running the event who were at fault.

I don't much appreciate the silly attempts by the media to create a feud between old friends and rivals, either.

American media coverage basically sucks. I'd rather see Canadian media, they do a much better job of covering the Olympics.

[cresecentbeachbadger]

they've been at each others throats since BEFORE Torino...
nuthin new there!
Thing is, I used to take Jules side back in 2005-early 07 tiara & all, when Lindsey was the underachiever/jealous one. Then Lindsey became MRS. Vonn and got HER act together BIGtime and Julia rants.
WOMEN!!
LUV 'em BOTH :)
Can't we all just get along?

[James in SB]

to crescentbeach,
Taking sides in media-fed disputes you know nothing about and that may not even exist--how brilliant.

[Kit]

Having two runners on course is pretty standard in ski racing. So nothing new here. Just bad luck that it happened to be Julia's team mate who caused the stoppage. Or maybe it was good luck for the media so they could spin their web of trash around it.

As for Lindsey's response to Julia's comments ... it seems to me that Julia's comments were more aimed at the USSA officialdom rather than Lindsey herself. It's not Lindsey's fault if her association or team fawns all over her - however she could do her best to not let it happen and in truth she seems like a prima donna that would love the attention. My opinion only of course.

[fedup]

Yep...media (read: Dufresne) making a mountain out of a molehill. Just read the headline....she's sorry for hurting her chances. Talk about inflammatory! Don't even get me started on the men's skating gold medal NON-controversy. Is it too much to ask to simply have good, accurate, CLEAN reporting of factual information??

[Grandpa]

Hey, the whole world revolves around Lindsay and her shin. Didn't you know that? What a story of courage -- medalling after sustaining a sore shin. Shut up, Lindsay, and just go home!

[stevec]

It's simply not true that no ski racer should be allowed on course until the prior racer fiinishes. It is standard operating procedure in many, many ski races, including at the Olympics, particularly in the non-"speed" events. Those are the breaks. It's part of the sport.

[Boo]

I care about the country, and less about the individual. If either of them can't win a medal, then that's one less medal for the United States (20 plus total medals and counting). No one's going to fret "Oh, I can't believe Mancuso won the gold for the U.S. and not Vonn" or vice versa.

[markus Edwards]

James in SB,
your comment aimed at cresenbeachwhatevertheheck lacks clarity and any real insight. You seem like a smug, snarky young chap with no real knowledge of anything. If you knew the history of these two, you would know that there is, in fact, a very real rivalry. Often bitter, often childish.

The media is only reporting what they see. The only difference? They're reporting 24 hours a day now and have nothing real to say. So in a way, the media is a lot like you. Bloated.

[Scott]

Hang tough , Julia and Lindsey, your excellent at skiing dont let this get you down, bounce back and excel....

[sikntired]

You said it all Grandpa! What foolish drama for medal winning athletes. Especially the super duper, life altering, massive, debilitating, olympic hope crushing, horrific shin injury---aka- 'the bruise'. Then it was the bumpy slope. (Like she was the only skiier to encounter it) Now I suppose we'll hear about 'the pinkie' for another week. We don't care. Ski. That's what you're supposed to be doing. As Vonn pointed out to Julia-stuff "happens in ski racing." Practice what you preach. You can go back to your modeling and product endorsements next week. Hope they can cover 'the bruise' with makeup.

[jvg2939@yahoo.com]

they can settle it in the ring, no holds barred and no clothes safe

[stevec]

@Grandpa and sikntired,

Your comments only show you don't have a clue about ski racing, or the facts, or don't care.

Do you think any athlete in their right mind would take 8-9 days off from training in their sport (other than to work out in the gym) right before the most important competition of the year, unless it was necessary?

It wasn't just any old shin injury, dipwads. It was right at the location where her boot top contacts her shin. As a skier and ski racer, I assure you, the pain while skiing with that injury would be excruciating and a non-starter. And, the issue with the bumpy course is simply that it would make it all the worse.

Additionally, you sound like you're among the millions of boneheads who don't realize there is actually ski racing beyond the Olympics, and that, oh, by the way, Lindsey is hardly the reincarnation of Anna Kournikova. Lindsey is the winningest female racer in U.S. history, and there is plenty of World Cup season remaining.

Learn a few facts before you spout off. Or, go ahead, spout off in ignorance and sound #$%^& ignorant.

[yawn]

Mark's "Grow up, both of you." comment is an unthinking pot shot against two competitors who are often approached for quotes immediately after an utterly exhausting, discouraging, or outright painful race finish. These quotes, or parts of them, are then taken out of context and promoted to stir up public interest and passions. Don't buy into this media created drama.

Besides, many of us encounter this kind of talk and bickering at our workplaces when people are under pressure for deadlines, or after disappointing losses in our organized sport leagues. It happens, and there's no age limit where it is natural to stop. Mark's comment is as bad as those of the skiers, and he has less excuse.

[Gregory Johnson]

No apology neccesary here, really not anyone's fault, but I also understand Julias frustration. It was more the conditions that caused your fall, and the fact that Julia was skiing right after you was just the luck of the draw. The conditions also forced Julia to ski while you were still on the course. Just a bizarre fate thing. Have a great slalom race. The timing that is Julia skiing 18th and forcing her to drop to 28th put her out of contention. Just weird coincindences. You have skiied beautifully so far, keep it up on Friday.

[Dex]

@Will: In relation to your comments about Canadian media, both the German and British press have also been superior and professional in their coverage of the Games unlike the U.S., which exploits puff pieces and gossip for the sake of ratings.

[Gigi]

What a bad break for both women. But honestly, I do think Lindsey Vonn has been getting way too much attention while Julia Mancuso hasn't been given her due. Personally, I'm tired of all the hype and drama around Lindsey and would love for Julia to start getting more attention and respect based on her achievements.

GO JM!

[michelle]

This is not Lindseys fault. Julia's comments just show how jealous she is. Julia says she doesn't like drama. No one would be talking about this if it wasn't for her comments. Julia needs to take off her tiara, learn about sportsmanship and go cry to her moma!!!

[Mel]

I'm pretty tired of hearing about every little thing that has occurred, is occurring or will occurr in Vonn's life. The cameras love her, and she plays to the camera. If it isn't her pinky finger they are focused on, it's her shin or it's a past fall she has taken. The other skiers must want to gag -- as if all of them don't have injuries all the time. The difference is their injuries are not publicity events. Mancuso deserves better. She is a superior skater, and she doesn't look for publicity other than reporting about her skiing. Vonn is a prima donna, and I've had about as much of her as I would need in a life time of the Olympics.

[paul]

i feel bad for vonn.she broke her pinky.its just terrible.now it'll make it difficult to twitter.these so called athletes are sorry.they care more about twitter than winning a medal.it seems vonns priorities were...show off her body then tweet to her fans and oh yea maybe win a medal.everybody blames the ppl who run the games and thats crap.these athletes have lost focus on their true goals somewhere along the way.

[Ree]

Lindsey was done competing after she won her gold...You saw it in her eyes and performance! Julia has won several medals but is still giving her all..Lindsey stop being a cry baby!

[Phil]

Just another idiotic decison by those that are running these 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. There has been one irresponsible and reprehesnible decision after another.

This will go down as the poorest run Olympic games in the history of both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Canadians should hang their heads and chastise any of their officials who have taken part in decisions that will surely make the 2010 Vancouver Olympics a running joke for decades and centuries to come.

[David]

I am truly sick of hearing about Vonn as I am Ohno, They are mediocre in their sports and they prove this when they face the world. Vonn has 1 gold medal and shes treated by the media as if she was as great as Michael Phelps; Mancuso is much better she won gold before Vonn and would have in her favorite event if Vonn didn't have another dnf, 2 medals and 3 dnfs for Vonn (thats sad). Back to Ohno now, 1 legitimate gold in his career and we have to hear about 7 total medals bronzes and silvers; do we not remember Heiden winning 5 golds in 1 olympics, I dont care about total medals I care about golds and these 2 athletes should get much less attention from the media/