Vonn was born to surprise, words by Deborah

The queen is already in Cortina and this morning she trained with the rest of the US team

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Date:	19/01/2016
Place:	Cortina d'Ampezzo

The queen is already in Cortina and this morning she trained with the rest of the US team at the Cinque Torri. Everyone is waiting for Lindsey Vonn. The Olympia delle Tofane is among her favorite races. Of her 73 victories, she has won as many as 9 in Cortina, 4 times in downhill (2008, 2010, 2013 and 1015) and 5 in superG (2010, 2011 twice, 2012 and 2012).

Another queen is waiting to applaud her. Our greatest athlete Deborah Compagnoni, who won the giant slalom here in 1997, much admires the US one. "She’s always able to surprise - says Deborah - and beyond the record, Lindsey is great, great. People normally concentrate on the number of victories, I look at the longevity too. She’d been on the scene for 15 years and today she seems to me the most stronger than ever. It impresses me to think of that little girl who in Santa Caterina at the 2005 World Championships came to my hotel and asked for my autograph."

True admiration the one of Compagnoni, it’s the opinion of those who lived from within and as protagonist the World Cup. "Vonn has talent, but that alone is not enough. In the years she has been able to grow always and continuously, she has used every opportunity to learn, as a great professional. But one important issue are motivations. When somebody repeatedly wins, these go down, it's hard to keep training at the highest level. She, instead, seems “bulimic”: whenever she comes out of the starting gate it is as if it had to be the last time in her life. Believe me, that isn’t easy."

With Compagnoni, Vonn has in common the accidents. The one to Lindsey in 2013 during the World Cup superG in Schladming was terrible. Because of the soft snow due to the heat wave in the Austrian resort, Lindsey destroyed the right knee. She tried to return to competition after nearly a year, but in the downhill in Val d'Isere she stopped after three-quarters of the run and returned to America to have the joint re-operated.

"Injuries - explains Deborah – if mentally faced in the right way make you grow. Vonn, after that injury, improved still. She grew up technically, because she now has more continuity, but above all she grew from the psychological point of view. My feeling is that she now knows better how to manage the race, how to apply all her expertise to extract the most out of every situation. Yes, I will be in Cortina to see her in action and then at the finish line to shake hands with her."