In an interview with NPR's Melissa Block, which will air on NPR's All Things Considered later today, Lindsey Vonn, winner of the women's downhill competition at the Winter Olympics, criticized the design and condition of the alpine course at Whistler Creekside.
Acknowledging that the weather hasn't been ideal, Vonn, who has been recovering from a painful shin injury, easily aggravated by a bumpy course, said elements of the run were especially precarious.
"It's definitely challenging when you have a long course that's so bumpy, and then, at the very end, you have a monstrous jump," she said. "And I think that's a little bit dangerous."
After the downhill competition, when Sweden's Anja Paerson lost control on the final jump, International Ski Federation officials decided to shave it, hoping to reduce its hazardousness. Block asked Vonn if she thought they should've done that sooner, before the downhill.
"Yeah, I did, honestly," she said. "I kind of foresaw this problem, and I wished they would have taken it down earlier, but sometimes they just -- they don't want to do that."
Everyone knew after that training run that that jump was going to be huge. Especially at the end of a long course, a bumpy course, everyone's legs are really tired, and it's really dangerous to have such a big jump at the end of such a long course.
Vonn was also critical of the condition of the run, complaining about its bumpiness in particular.
"I think they could have done maybe a little bit better job of grooming the hill, and making it smoother for the athletes," Vonn told Block, conceding the weather conditions have been suboptimal.
Vonn fell in the super-combined competition yesterday, when she hooked the tip one of her skis on a gate in the slalom portion of the race. She'll compete in the super-G tomorrow. Next week, she'll race in the giant slalom (Wed., Feb. 24) and slalom (Fri., Feb. 26).
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