When World Cup skiing star Lindsey Vonn flew across the finish line breaking a 35-year-old record on Monday, she had support from another champion: Tiger Woods.
Woods, disguised in a ski mask with an image of a skull over his face, surprised girlfriend Vonn by appearing at the finish line as the skier won the super-G event in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Vonn wasn’t fooled at all by Tiger’s mask. “I knew it was him immediately. He loves that stupid mask,” she said.
Still, the skier was quite taken by the gesture. Vonn told the Today show on Monday:
I didn’t know he was here at the finish until I actually was done with my race and my dad said, ‘Hey look, I found someone.’ It was incredible. I had hoped that he would come, but he’s in training. He’s got a tournament coming up. I would never have expected him to show up, but it meant a lot to me. He’s a catch. He’s a good boyfriend.
On Sunday, Vonn tied Annemarie Moser-Proell’s 35-year-old record of 62 World Cup wins, but on Monday, the amazing skier broke that record with her 63rd win.
It is quite a comeback for the 30-year-old who many thought was washed up in the sport after suffering several knee injuries that eliminated her from participating in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Vonn said:
The last two years have been really hard. I fought so hard to come back for Sochi and then to have blown out my knee right before the Games again was heartbreaking, but I never gave up. I kept believing in myself, and I’m surprised at with how quickly things have kind of come around. I’ve gotten back on the podium and on the top step pretty quickly.
“I think that’s just all my hard work paying off finally. I’m in a really happy place. It’s hard to explain. It’s a dream come true,” she concluded
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston or email the author at igcolonel@hotmail.com
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