Lindsey Vonn requests to compete against the men |
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| By adamrowden, 8 Oct '12 at 12:49 |
Lindsey Vonn, the reigning world champion in female downhill alpine skiing has asked to compete in the men’s downhill in Canada this November. Vonn has written to the International Ski Federation to ask for their permission and if her request is granted then it could be a huge boost for the American.
The men are said to be stronger and compete on a longer and more difficult course, where the slopes are steeper and there are far more jumps. However, many people believe that Vonn, who is completely in a league of her own as a female racer, would be able to compete with the men.
When it comes to her abilities, she is a very accomplished racer who specialises in the speed disciplines such as downhill and super G, compared to the more technical discipline of slalom.
At just 27, Vonn has already won 33 World Cups and 26 of these have come in the downhill and the opportunity to compete against the men is surely something that she would grab with both hands.
Having spoken many times about wanting to compete against the men she has now made an official approach to compete at the Lake Louise Downhill on November 24th. Vonn has won 10 times at Lake Louise, so she is very familiar with the slope.
Vonn trains with the men and this, combined with her extensive knowledge of the Lake Louise slope would make for a very interesting competition if her request is accepted.
Last week in Switzerland her request was discussed at a meeting of the International Ski Federation (FIS), however, they have yet to come to a decision.
One of the issues with her request is the fact that the women’s downhill takes place in the same location a week after the men’s, and some people may believe that her preparations and training for the men's event would give her an unfair advantage in the women's event. This could lead to complaints from her fellow female competitors.
It is believed that the decision will be made by the FIS in the next couple of weeks.
Photo courtesy of
U.S. Ski Team.
Source:
PlanetSki
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