Vancouver 2010 Ladies Downhill

Pablo Escobar wrote:Vonn will take it. At least if she did it would make a great story for the press. If she skis through the pain I can't see her not winning.

Interesting prediction Pablo.

Tony_H wrote:Vonn, absolutely without question.
Chemmy will finish top 20 at best.

I agree.

The race proved one thing, the stupidity of the FIS. All the silly rules, like restricting ski radius, length of skis, and speed suits that have no insulation value, all for the safety of the racers (they say). Then they allow stupid big air jumps, that are guaranteed to cause major injuries. The big jump adds nothing, if you have the slightest appreciation of ski racing, but makes great pictures for sponsors.

Trencher

Trencher, I'm with you on the big jump problem. It was nothing but a crowd pleaser for the Grandstand, not necessary and quite a few racers were injured as a result.

Paerson is one of the most experienced racers on the circuit, strong and determined, and yet her fall on landing that jump, could have easily ended her chances of achieving medals in her other event these Games.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE61H07W20100218

The jumps are dramatic alright. There are always risks when racing at those speeds, but I think the course designers simply added to those risks this time.
Paerson was lucky not to seriously injure herself. I dont know how she managed to pull that crash landing back so she hit skis first, but had she actually gone over in mid air, well.....it could have been tragic.
The Italian (I think) who crashed not long before her slid for miles once her skis came off!!!