Lindsey Vonn ‘disappointed' with how Mikaela Shiffrin handled decision to race with another teammate
Vonn, who is making a comeback this season at age 40 after nearly six years of retirement, had campaigned to race with Shiffrin on an American team that would have united the two most successful skiers in World Cup history.
But Shiffrin then announced that she wasn't going to race combined because she was behind in her training for giant slalom following her crash in Killington, Vermont, in November.
Shiffrin then changed her mind on Monday. Saying that she was struggling to overcome her fears following her November crash, she decided to withdraw from the giant slalom but will race the combined instead, pairing with Johnson. Speeds are not as high in slalom as they are in giant slalom so it's a less dangerous event.
'I'm excited for Breezy and Mikaela to team up together and I believe they are a great pair. However, I am disappointed in the way it was handled,' Vonn said in a statement sent to The Associated Press.
'Despite the lack of communication I am a team player and am looking forward to be partnered with AJ Hurt, who is an amazing young skier,' Vonn added.
The combined event entails one racer competing in a downhill run and another in a slalom run, with their two times added up to determine the final results.
'I'd feel lucky and grateful to partner with any of my incredible Speed teammates—and our coaches have now informed us that Breezy and I will paired together for the event,' Shiffrin said on Instagram.
Shiffrin and Vonn are the winningest female racers in World Cup history with 99 victories for Shiffrin and 82 for Vonn. Vonn is the all-time leader in World Cup downhill victories with 43 and Shiffrin holds the mark in slalom with 62 — both records among men and women.
'I think it would be probably one of the coolest things in ski racing to have 181 World Cup victories on one team,' Vonn said last week.
While the 24-year-old Hurt has never won a World Cup race, she has finished on the podium twice with two third-places — once in slalom and once in giant slalom, both last season.
But before issuing her clarifying statement, Vonn clearly wanted to race with Shiffrin.
'Why am I not surprised?' Vonn wrote on the social media platform X with a shrug emoji after seeing Shiffrin's announcement on Instagram.
Vonn then deleted that message and added a new post on X that said: 'Always been a team player and I support my team no matter what. I'm not surprised by the decisions made but at least now it's clear that it's not my decision. I have always been supportive and respectful and that will never change,' Vonn said, concluding with a Go USA flag emoji.
Lauren Macuga with Paula Moltzan and Jacqueline Wiles with Katie Hensien.
The U.S. team said the pairings were made based on 'season-best results' in both downhill and slalom.
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