Lindsey Vonn’s ill-fated final season as a ski racer will be showcased in a feature length HBO documentary coming in November.
A camera crew from Wyoming-based Teton Gravity Research was embedded with Vonn in a severely abbreviated season as she fell short in pursuit of Ingemar Stenmark’s all-time record for World Cup wins (86). She competed in only three World Cup races for the season and retired with 82 wins.
Vonn’s quest to surpass Stenmark was derailed when she injured a knee while training at Copper Mountain in November. She joined the World Cup tour more than a month after the season began and raced three times in January at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, crashing the third day in a super-G. She skipped the next World Cup race and finished her career at the world championships in February, skipping the final month of the World Cup season.
At the world championships she crashed in the super-G but took a bronze medal in her final race, a downhill.
“There are a lot of athlete documentaries today, but this film, at once heartbreaking and inspiring, takes us places unseen with an elite athlete like Lindsey, revealing the sacrifice demanded of a champion confronting her human limits to end an unparalleled career,” said Peter Nelson, executive vice president of HBO Sports, in a news release.
Titled “Lindsey Vonn: The Final Season,” the documentary will debut Nov. 26 on HBO. It will be available on other HBO platforms as well.
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