Lindsey Vonn took home the bronze medal in last night's Olympic downhill competition, which has been the signature event of her illustrious Olympic career.
Shortly after her final run Vonn took to twitter and said that her bronze model "felt like gold," while also acknowledging her achievement of medaling at age 33, making her the oldest female alpine Olympic medalist.
Sofia Goggia of Italy took home the gold medal, finishing the race in 1 minute, 39.22 seconds, just 0.09 seconds ahead of Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway. Vonn was .47 seconds slower than Goggia, who told reporters, "I came here ... with one goal: to beat Lindsey."
Vonn has endured a slue of injuries over her career, including two operations to repair torn ligaments in her right knee, and says it's one of the reasons she can't keep competing at this level although she will "absolutely miss it."
Per the Associated Press,
"I wish I could keep going. I wish this wasn't my last Olympics, but it is," Vonn said, looking down at the snow underfoot and shaking her head, "so I'm trying to accept that and deal with the emotions of that and enjoy the ride."
"I wish I could keep going. I have so much fun. I love what I do," Vonn said. "My body just can't, probably can't, take another four years."
"I'm going to miss the Olympics," she said. "That's one of the reasons it was so emotional for me today. I love racing in the Olympics. I love being in the starting gate with so much pressure you feel suffocated, but somehow you will yourself to give everything you have and you throw yourself down the mountain in hopes of a medal. I'm absolutely going to miss it."
While Vonn's downhill career has come to an end, her Olympic run isn't quite over just yet. According to ESPN, she will compete again on Thursday against U.S. teammate Mikaela Shiffrin in the Alpine combined, which adds the times of a downhill (advantage, Vonn) and one run of slalom (big advantage, Shiffrin).
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