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Tag: World Championships

  • Lindsey Vonn continues to turn back the clock, qualifying for the Winter Olympics at 41

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    It’s been one surprise after another lately from Lindsey Vonn. And the announcement that the 41-year-old slopes queen has qualified for the Milano Cortina Olympics in February isn’t the last of it.

    It might have been her post on Instagram that stated unequivocally that this will be the end.

    “I am honored to be able to represent my country one more time, in my 5th and final Olympics!” Vonn said.

    Vonn’s remarkable and inspiring comeback from injuries and a seven-year hiatus from top-level competitive skiing has injected the U.S. team narrative with an irresistible story line. That her quest will culminate in the mountains of northern Italy just two months from now will make it must-watch television and social media video.

    The last two weeks have thrust Vonn back onto the international stage as well as the podium, which she climbed in four of her first five races this season. That includes a spectacular win in the downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Dec. 12.

    That marked her first World Cup victory since 2018. And now it’s official that Vonn will compete in her fifth Olympics where she won gold in the downhill and bronze in the super-G at the 2010 Games in Vancouver and bronze in the downhill in the 2018 Games in PyeongChang.

    Much of the astonishment circles back to her age. Vonn’s win in St. Moritz made her the oldest woman to win a World Cup race — by seven years. Federica Brignone of Italy set a record a year ago when she won 10 races at age 34.

    She also is the first World Cup winner with titanium implants in her right knee. And she’ll become the first quadragenerian to lead the U.S. Alpine skiiing squad seven years after she had all but retired.

    In a moving column on Feb. 10, 2019, at the World Championships, The Times’ Helene Elliott wrote what essentially was a sendoff for Vonn: “She went all out to the very end, because that’s the only way Lindsey Vonn knew how to ski. She was bruised and battered as she went to the start gate on Sunday for the final race of her career, sore all over and her right eye blackened by the impact of a crash she suffered during a super-giant slalom race earlier in the week at the World Championships. Her ligaments tore and her bones sometimes broke but her competitiveness was never dimmed, never dented, never compromised.”

    Well, 2026 is around the bend and Vonn is back and intact, her competitiveness never compromised still. She has not officially qualified for the Olympics in the super-G, but she’s the fastest American and No. 3 in the world, so count on that as her next headline.

    “Lindsey qualifying for the 2026 Olympic team is a testament to her resilience and dedication, and the remarkable results she’s delivered on the World Cup this season,” Sophie Goldschmidt, U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “She’s proven once again that elite performance isn’t just about past success, it’s about rising to the moment, race after race.

    “We’re thrilled to cheer her on at the Olympics.”

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    Steve Henson

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  • Still got it: 86-year-old Florida woman brings home gold medal in tennis

    Still got it: 86-year-old Florida woman brings home gold medal in tennis

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    POINT WHERE I DON’T THINK I CAN’T. WELL, IT’S ALWAYS AN HONOR TO REPRESENT TEAM USA IN ANY SPORTING EVENT, BUT HOW ABOUT DOING IT AT THE AGE OF 86? YIANNI KOURAKIS HAS A STORY OF A PALM BEACH GARDENS WOMAN WHO IS SHOWING NO SIGNS OF SLOWING DOWN ON THE TENNIS COURT. THEY SAY AGE IS JUST A NUMBER, AND AT 86 YEARS YOUNG, DOROTHY WASSER OF PALM BEACH GARDENS FEELS GREAT ON THE COURT. MOST PEOPLE THINK I’M AMAZING, BUT THERE ARE SO MANY OF US THAT ARE THAT ARE STILL DOING IT ONLY BECAUSE WE’VE DONE IT SO LONG, SO WE’RE JUST STAYING IN SHAPE. WAS IT A 85? THE NEW 75? BUT THOSE PLAYERS ARE A MUCH STRONGER THAN AT THAT AGE THAN WE EVER WERE. NOT ONLY IS DOROTHY IN SHAPE, BUT SHE ROUTINELY PLAYS GOLF AND PICKLEBALL AND RECENTLY CAME HOME FROM TURKEY WITH YET ANOTHER GOLD MEDAL IN TENNIS AS CAPTAIN OF TEAM USA IN THE 85 AND OVER WORLD TEAM CHAMPIONSHIP. AND WE KNOW WE WANT TO BRING BACK THE GOLD AND WE ALL CONSIDER IT AN HONOR. REALLY, THAT THE USTA SENDS US THERE. DOROTHY HAS LOST TRACK OF THE NUMBER OF MEDALS SHE’S WON. SHE THINKS MORE THAN A DOZEN GOLDS. THE GRANDMOTHER OF SEVEN AND NOW GREAT GRANDMOTHER BEGAN PLAYING PADDLE TENNIS IN THE 1960S IN BROOKLYN. SOON TENNIS TOURNAMENTS FOLLOWED, LIVING ON LONG ISLAND. AND AT 86 YEARS OLD, DOROTHY HAS BEEN ABLE TO AVOID ANY MAJOR INJURIES THAT WOULD DERAIL HER TENNIS CAREER. SHE SAID SHE HAS REALLY GOOD GENES AND AS YOU CAN IMAGINE, HAS CREATED A LITTLE BIT OF FAME HERE AT BALLENISLES COUNTRY CLUB. AS SOON AS THEY SEE ME, THEY KNOW THE RESULTS OF THIS TURKEY TOURNAMENT. THEY’RE ALL CONGRATULATE ME. THEY’RE JUST THE NICEST GROUP OF PEOPLE. HOW LONG ARE YOU GOING TO KEEP DOING THIS? OH, AS LONG AS WE CAN. WE ALL SAY THE SAME THING. WE’RE DOING THIS BECAUSE WE CAN IN PALM BEACH GARDEN

    86-year-old Florida woman brings home gold medal in tennis

    They say age is just a number, and at 86 years old, Dorothy Wasser, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, feels great playing on the tennis court.”Most people think I’m amazing. But there are so many of us that are still doing it. We’ve done it so long to stay in shape,” Wasser said.Not only is Wasser in shape, but she routinely plays golf and pickleball and recently came home from Turkey with yet another gold medal in tennis, as captain of Team USA in the 85-and-over World Team Championships.”We know we want to bring back the gold and we consider it an honor that the USTA sends us there,” Wasser said.Wasser has lost track of the number of medals she’s won over the years. She thinks it’s more than a dozen golds in international events. The grandmother of seven — and now great-grandmother — began playing paddle tennis in the 1960s in Brooklyn, and tennis tournaments soon followed while living on Long Island.At 86, Wasser has been able to avoid any major injuries that would derail her tennis career. She comes from a family of athletes with good genes, and as you can imagine, she has created a little bit of fame for herself at BallenIsles Country Club.”As soon as they see me, they know the results of the Turkey tournament. They all congratulate me. They are just the nicest group of people,” Wasser said. As for how long she plans to keep playing competitive tennis?”As long we can,” she said. “We all say the same thing — we are doing this because we can.”

    They say age is just a number, and at 86 years old, Dorothy Wasser, of Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, feels great playing on the tennis court.

    “Most people think I’m amazing. But there are so many of us that are still doing it. We’ve done it so long to stay in shape,” Wasser said.

    Not only is Wasser in shape, but she routinely plays golf and pickleball and recently came home from Turkey with yet another gold medal in tennis, as captain of Team USA in the 85-and-over World Team Championships.

    “We know we want to bring back the gold and we consider it an honor that the USTA sends us there,” Wasser said.

    Wasser has lost track of the number of medals she’s won over the years. She thinks it’s more than a dozen golds in international events. The grandmother of seven — and now great-grandmother — began playing paddle tennis in the 1960s in Brooklyn, and tennis tournaments soon followed while living on Long Island.

    At 86, Wasser has been able to avoid any major injuries that would derail her tennis career. She comes from a family of athletes with good genes, and as you can imagine, she has created a little bit of fame for herself at BallenIsles Country Club.

    “As soon as they see me, they know the results of the Turkey tournament. They all congratulate me. They are just the nicest group of people,” Wasser said.

    As for how long she plans to keep playing competitive tennis?

    “As long we can,” she said. “We all say the same thing — we are doing this because we can.”

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