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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is just the latest iteration of "Middle-aged woman, sit down!" and I can't even...

But also: Middle-aged woman, sit down. You're making things worse, hurting the U.S. team, and hurting the skier behind you on the roster. You earned your spot with an untorn ACL. And now you have a torn ACL, so be a mensch and withdraw. [/quote]

I'm a middle aged woman who thinks it was unwise for Vonn to ski on her torn ACL. It's not even about giving someone else a shot or "being a mensch" for me. I just think it's dumb to destroy your body when you've already had amazing success in the sport and really don't have anything left to prove. It was like Tom Brady coming out of retirement to play for the Bucs. Dude, your time is done, you're old, why risk injury to do this again? And in Tom's case, he actually won another SB! I still think it was stupid.

There is something wrong with a lot of top athletes, mentally. I think especially in dangerous sports, they become addicted to the adrenaline and the glory, and they cannot adjust to retirement where they don't get those highs on a regular basis. I think they should take up meditation and see a therapist, not hit the gym and announce their un-retirement.

I also think it sends a terrible message to young athletes when people play through serious injuries. I always tell me kids: there is no glory worth risking your health. Kerri Strug vaulting on an injury? Louganis diving with a concussion? These are tragic stories that raise questions of coaching abuse and toxic training environments. Both of those athletes should have been told by coaches and teammates, "you and your safety are more important than winning an olympic medal." But we have a psycho "win at all costs" culture, so other people herald those incidents. I don't.

Meanwhile, people berate Simone Biles for dropping out of Olympic events when she did not feel she could safely perform her routines. Amanda Anisimova got widely criticized for stepping back from tennis when she had mental health issues. Yet both of those athletes came back better and more successful afterwards. I think those stories are far more admirable than a 40-something skier tearing her ACL 100% (her words) and then choosing to ski anyway, only to have a horrifying incident requiring multiple surgeries to fix. And Vonn was already a decorated athlete. It was for nothing but satisfying her own ego and, likely, her boredom and difficulty adjusting to life as a retired athlete. I don't see much to admire there and I wouldn't want my kids making the same choices. I'd want them to listen to the doctors, listen to their bodies, and make a choice of self-preservation and self-love, not sacrifice for no good reason.[/quote]

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