US ski star Lindsey Vonn, 34, has announced a possible immediate retirement. "I did not want to stop, but I can not continue, the pain in my knee is too much and I do not know what else I should do", the ORF quoted the most successful woman in the Alpine World Cup history on his homepage.
Previously, she retired from the Super-G in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The victory was won by her teammate Mikaela Shiffrin; for the 23-year-old it was already the eleventh season win.
Asked if this Super-G could have been their last race in the World Cup, Vonn replied in tears, "I think so, I have to think about it, but it can be, I have to think." In ARD interview Vonn said that she currently has more pain than she had expected.
DPA
Vonn, as one actually knows: in a jubilee pose
Vonn's career is marked by great success, but also by numerous injuries. Last November, she had another knee injury. In the comeback in Cortina she drove with rails on both knees - and experienced three disappointments. On the departures on Friday and Saturday, she finished in places 15 and nine.
After that Vonn was dissatisfied, but confident on the outside: "I still have many options, not so many, but enough," she said on Saturday's record-breaking hunt. The had been slowed down after another knee injury from training in the fall. She missed the start of the season.
"There is no lack of motivation, there is a lack of cartilage"
Vonn is in 82 World Cup victories. She originally wanted to finish this season and even compete in the competitions in Lake Louise next winter - all to crack the record of 86 wins by Swedish Ingemar Stenmark. "There is no lack of motivation, dedication or will, there is a lack of cartilage", she had said last week: "My body tells me: It's enough!"
In her career, she drove to 137 podium finishes in the World Cup, two world titles, an Olympic victory in the Downhill 2010 and a total of three Olympic medals.