SPORTS
Thursday, January 24, 2019
East Oregonian
B3
U.S. skier Vonn to decide future in coming days
By ANDREW DAMPF
Associated Press
Lindsey Vonn isn’t quite
done yet.
The most successful
female skier in World Cup
history said Wednesday that
she remains “hopeful” she
can fix her ailing knees and
race again. She just doesn’t
know when — or if— that
will be possible.
“I’m taking things day
by day and we will see what
happens,” Vonn wrote on
Instagram. “I know that I
might not get the ending to
my career that I had hoped
for, but if there is a chance, I
will take it.”
The
announcement
came three days after Vonn
hinted at immediate retire-
ment after failing to finish
a super-G in Cortina d’Am-
pezzo, Italy, citing severe
pain in both of her knees.
Vonn said the reason she
had “so much pain and mus-
cle shut down in Cortina
was due to an impact injury
to my peroneal nerve.”
AP Photo/Alessandro Trovati
United States’ Lindsey Vonn waves as she stands in the finish area after completing an alpine
ski, women’s World Cup super-G in Cortina D’Ampezzo, Italy, on Sunday.
“This most likely came
from the final jump on the
first training run in Cortina,
but it’s hard to know for
sure,” Vonn added. “After
that training run, the pain
got progressively worse
each day and by Sunday my
lower leg was in a lot of pain
and my muscles had com-
pletely shut down.”
Vonn, who hadn’t raced
all season because of a left
knee injury, finished no bet-
ter than ninth in three races
in Cortina.
“Now that we know the
problem the next issue is fix-
ing it,” Vonn said. “So far we
haven’t found a solution and
as a result I will not be able
to compete in tomorrow’s
downhill training run.”
Downhill training in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen,
Germany, is scheduled for
Thursday and Friday, fol-
lowed by downhill and
super-G races this weekend.
Vonn needs to start at
least one training run to race
the downhill, per Interna-
tional Ski Federation rules.
She can enter the super-G
without any training runs.
“Since this is a new
‘injury’ per say, I remain
hopeful that we can fix it,”
she said.
Vonn has 82 wins —
most among women — and
four less than overall record-
holder Ingemark Stenmark
of Sweden.
After Garmisch, her next
scheduled competition is
the world championships in
Are, Sweden, which open
on Feb. 5.
Vonn had been planning
to retire in December fol-
lowing races in Lake Lou-
ise, Alberta, where she has
won a record 18 times.
If she is able to race again
this week, Vonn’s skis are
waiting for her.
“I have just arrived in
Garmisch and set up my ski
room,” Heinz Haemmerle,
Vonn’s longtime ski tech-
nician, told The Associated
Press. “The skis are ready
whatever she’s deciding.
That’s why I am here. Oth-
erwise I could stay at home.”
Rainer Salzgeber, the
racing director for Head
skis, added that the com-
pany is preparing as if Vonn
will race in Garmisch and
then the worlds.
“For Heinz right now
it looks like this,” Salzge-
ber told the AP. “But how it
will end up in the next cou-
ple of days or hours I do not
know.”
Vonn had returned to
action in Cortina following
an injury to her left knee
— she hyperextended it and
sprained a ligament while
training in November. Also,
her right knee is perma-
nently damaged from previ-
ous crashes.
Oregon men look to regain footing against Washington
By ANNE M. PETERSON
Associated Press
Game of the week: The
slumping Oregon Ducks
have fallen to 2-3 in Pac-12
play and eighth in the con-
ference standings, and any
shot at making the NCAA
Tournament field — apart
from a conference tourna-
ment win — seems to be
rapidly slipping away. But
they could boost their sea-
son Thursday with a vic-
tory at home over Washing-
ton, the last undefeated team
in Pac-12 play. The Ducks
have won six straight over
the Huskies.
Oregon (11-7, 2-3 Pac-
12) was ranked No. 14 in the
preseason but key injuries
have taken a toll. Bol Bol,
arguably the biggest recruit-
ing catch in Oregon history,
was lost for his lone college
season after left foot sur-
gery. Forward Kenny Woo-
AP Photos/File
Oregon head men’s basketball coach Dana Altman (left) and
Washington head coach Mike Hopkins will be on the court
tonight as the Ducks host the Huskies.
ten broke his jaw and missed
four games but came back
last week for the Ducks’ split
with the Arizona schools.
The Huskies (14-4, 5-0)
are 5-0 in conference play
for the first time since the
1983-84 season, when they
started 6-0. Washington had
its first road sweep in six
years when it won at Utah
and Colorado. But while
the Huskies’ start in con-
ference play is impressive,
it’s also come against some
of the weaker teams in the
Pac-12. None of Washing-
ton’s five wins have come
against teams ranked in the
top 99 of the latest NCAA
Net Rankings.
Looking ahead: In
addition to Washington’s
visit to Oregon, Arizona
(14-5, 5-1) visits USC (10-8,
3-2), which is coming off a
confidence-boosting 80-67
victory over rival UCLA.
It is the first of three road
games for the Wildcats as
they try to keep up with the
Huskies.
Inside the numbers:
Nick Rakocevic was the
Pac-12 Player of the Week
after his 21 points and 12
rebounds for the Trojans
in the victory over UCLA
— which snapped a four-
game USC losing streak. ...
According to the Pac-12, in
32 league games so far this
season, the averaging scor-
ing margin is 13.1 points,
with 11 games decided by
single digits and three games
decided by one possession,
meaning three points or less.
Players to watch: Wash-
ington’s Matisse Thybulle
and Oregon State’s Kylor
Kelley were named to the
Naismith Defensive Player
of the Year watch list this
week. They are the only
two players from the Pac-12
to make the list of 15 from
around the country.
Thybulle may be the
leader for defensive player
of the year in the confer-
ence yet again. The senior
guard was the conference
defensive player of the year
a season ago and leads the
conference in steals at 2.7
per game and is second in
blocks at 2.3. He’s the only
player in the country cur-
rently averaging that many
steals and that many blocks
per game.
Kelley, a 7-foot Oregon
native, leads the nation in
blocked shots with 3.94 per
game. He had an Oregon
State-record nine blocked
shots against Pepperdine.
He also set a school record
with multiple blocks in 15
straight games.
On the women’s side:
Utah is ranked for the first
time in more than a decade,
coming in at No. 21 in the
AP poll. The Utes join four
other ranked Pac-12 teams,
including No. 5 Oregon, No.
6 Stanford, No. 9 Oregon
State and No. 16 Arizona
State.
COMING FEBRUARY 13
Rekindle Your
Love For Reading
Purchase a 1-year subscription to
the East Oregonian and receive this
highly collectable book, “Pendleton
Round-up at 100,” absolutely free!
Exclusively in the
Wednesday East Oregonian
and Hermiston Herald
Makes a great Valentine gift or a wonderful
addition to your own coff ee table.
CHOOSE:
1-year subscription $173.67
Home Delivery + 24/7 Online access
Your weekly guide to onscreen listings for movies,
sports, entertainment, TV series and much more!
To advertise, contact our Media Sales Department
PENDLETON OFFICE: 1.800.522.0255
HERMISTON OFFICE: 541.567.6457
Call 1-800-522-0255 or stop by our offi ce at
211 SE Byers Ave in Pendleton or 333 East Main Street in Hermiston