Williams wrote this story for the Colorado Ski & Snowboard Museum. “I tease him all the time and say, ‘Franz, I’m still polishing my bronze and it hasn’t turned to gold yet. “We’ve become very good friends,” Nelson said. Klammer, of course, turned in the signature run of his legendary career, nearly crashing on every turn en route to winning the gold medal. In he comes and stands next to me with the flag … and he says to me, ‘So, you are Cindy Nelson. “So, who’s carrying the flag?” Nelson said. The Austrian team, coming in last as the host nation, marched in behind a meteorically rising young superstar ski racer. But she was picked to carry the flag for the entire American team at the opening ceremonies.īlown away by the intense energy rising up from the home crowd, Nelson nervously carried the flag into the stadium, leading the team to its designated spot. She was still carrying the weight of missing the Sapporo Games in ’72 and the expectations of winning downhills on the World Cup circuit.
Nelson wasn’t even planning to go to the opening ceremonies, instead opting to lay low and conserve energy in hopes of becoming the first American to win an Olympic downhill gold medal. She credits him with helping her refocus in order to win her only World Cup giant slalom in foul weather in British Columbia.īut by far the greatest memory for Nelson came during her breakout performance at the Winter Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria, in 1976 - the games that were supposed to be contested in Denver and Beaver Creek but were rejected by Colorado voters. Nelson, selected to the Colorado Ski Museum Hall of Fame in 2002, calls fellow Hall-of-Famer Steadman the most influential person in her storied career. A few months after taking the job, George Gillett bought the company and Nelson stayed on, ultimately joining Gillett in helping to convince Steadman to relocate to Vail from the Lake Tahoe area. Nelson retired at the same age (29) that Vonn is now, calling it quits in 1985 to become first an ambassador for Vail Associates, and then director of skiing. There’s no question in my mind that Lindsey can do it.” “Now, take the time to heal, take the time to make yourself stronger all the way around and then go for it. “Every (surgery) that I had I came back as good, if not stronger than I was before, so that’s where I come to the idea that if you’ve got it, you’ve got it,” Nelson said. The question now, after her latest setback, is if Vonn can come back in time for the Sochi Winter Games in February.
She came up with the idea while struggling through rehab after her hip surgery in 2005.īased on her own extensive surgical past, Nelson says she has no doubt Vonn, the Olympic downhill champion in 2010, will come back better than ever. Richard Steadman performed seven knee surgeries and two ankles operations on Nelson, who now runs an organization called Here 2 Help, of Vail, that assists with aftercare and travel planning for people coming to Vail for surgery. Marc Philippon, of Vail’s Steadman Clinic, operated on that hip, a culmination of a long surgical history for Nelson at the renowned orthopedic clinic. That injury kept Nelson from competing in the 1972 Winter Olympics in Sapporo, Japan.
13, 1974 - two years after she crashed and dislocated her hip on the same mountain. Nelson won that first World Cup downhill in Grindelwald, Switzerland, on Jan. “I’m so impressed with her and absolutely wish her the best and support her 100 percent.” “I would still look for (Vonn) to break Annemarie’s record and continue to raise the bar up there, which is kind of interesting to think that I was the first one to break Annemarie’s win streak - a girl from Minnesota who was also transplanted to Vail - and then here’s Lindsey, but doing it much better than I ever did it,” Nelson said. Nelson competed head-to-head with the Austrian great, snapping her downhill win streak and making American ski-racing history in January of 1974. Recent knee injuries aside, Nelson says Vonn has the strength and determination to get the four more wins needed to break Moser-Proell’s all-time women’s World Cup victory record of 62.
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