Superstar skier Lindsey Vonn is a big fan of Roger Federer.
The darling of the U.S. Olympic team and the Sport Illustrated cover girl, however, needs to take note of a past performance from Pete Sampras in order to achieve ultimate Olympic glory.
Vonn, an avid tennis player and fan who attended Wimbledon this past year, is a strong favorite to win multiple medals at the Vancouver Games, including the signature women’s alpine event, the downhill. But Vonn revealed this week that a painful shin injury may actually prevent her from competing or, at least, ski at her gold-medal contending best.
Vonn, as seen in his NBC Olympics video – http://www.nbcolympics.com/video/assetid=a4f47035-a328-48ea-9e6a-33d62364d0dd.html#vonn+never+fed – gushes about tennis and Federer, but she should study back a few more years in the history of Wimbledon to draw inspiration for what will be a painful attempt at Olympic glory.
Pete Sampras also suffered from painful shin injury entering Wimbledon in 2000, where he was attempting to break Roy Emerson’s record of 12 Grand Slam men’s singles titles. Like Vonn, Sampras had fluid build-up in his shins and was in considerable pain. He was unable to practice – only hitting balls during his matches – and during off days, stayed off his feet and received treatment to try to alleviate the pain. Taking pain medication before playing his matches, Sampras went through the draw and gutted out a tough four-set win over Patrick Rafter in the final to win what was his seventh, and perhaps most courageous, Wimbledon title to break Emerson’s record.
Vonn and her fans will certainly hope she can “pull a Sampras” and win gold for the USA.