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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Putting the ACL aside, Lindsey clearly went out intending to win, and she tried to do it in the first 10 seconds by taking a tighter, more direct line than anyone else. In hindsight, it was a questionable tactical decision. We had already seen from several racers before her that you could be ahead of Breezy through the first half of the course, but those early splits weren’t translating into podium runs. The course set and conditions suggested that the race would be decided in the final third, where maintaining speed and line through the flatter, more technical sections mattered most.

By attacking so aggressively at the top, she effectively bet on gaining a decisive advantage early rather than building the run progressively. That approach increased risk without offering much strategic upside given how the course was skiing.

Unfortunately, the combination of bold tactics and her trademark willingness to push the limits, qualities that defined her entire career, didn’t align with what this race required.[/quote]

Breezy herself took a much more conservative approach through the top third of the course and did not look on her way to a gold medal run at that point, but then had an extremely technically skillful remainder.

I thought it was interesting after Breezy's successful run, demonstrating this approach, that Vonn chose instead to try and attack the top of the course aggressively.

Jackie Wiles, the third American in the final, took a similar approach to Breezy and finished 4th, her best Olympic finish ever. Wiles also had the best time on the hill during her Friday training run. I also want to note that Wiles is not some kid -- she's 34 and this is her third Olympics.

This isn't a knock on Vonn's approach, she's obviously one of the best women's downhill skiers of all time and she's going to know better than me what she should do. But given the hill conditions and Breezy's success, I wonder what motivated Vonn to try and attack the top of the hill so aggressively? Was she worried that she wouldn't be able to ski as cleanly later in the course as Breezy and others were, due to her injury, so felt she needed to open up a lead early? Or was it a decision made independently of the current standings or how other skiers had skied, and based entirely on her own instincts based on her training run? Impossible to know, but just interesting to me that of the three American women, Vonn was the only one who chose to go after the top of the course the way she did, and the other two women had career best outcomes.[/quote]

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