Lindsey Vonn knows her time atop the leaderboard is almost over.
Vonn acknowledged in an Instagram post that she will soon lose her spot atop the season downhill standings, possibly as early as Saturday, March 7. She's held the No. 1 spot since winning the first downhill of the season in December, but a crash during the Olympic downhill last month left her with severe, season-ending injuries to her left leg and right ankle.
"At the beginning of the season no one would have ever believed I would be even close to this position. And I bet people would have laughed if it was even suggested. But winning the title was my goal… and I came painfully close to achieving it," Vonn wrote.
"... Even though in a few days no one will remember that I almost won the season title, I will remember," she said. "I didn’t want to win the title to prove anything to anyone. I did it because I knew I could. I just wish I had a chance to fight until the end to try and get it…"
Vonn suffered a complex tibial fracture in her left leg and fractured right ankle during the Olympic crash, which occurred after she hooked a gate. She later revealed she also had compartment syndrome, and said she could have lost her leg if not for her longtime orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tom Hackett.
