Walk Away

Lindsey Vonn had to pull out of a ski competition in Italy last weekend after injuring both her knees.  She then broached the subject of retirement only to walk it back, as much as she could while wearing braces on both her knees. 

 

“I am taking things day by day, and we will see what happens,” Vonn was quoted in yesterday’s NYT.  Day by day, after four surgeries on her right knee and severe ligament damage to her left?  Vonn, who wants to break the record for most World Cup wins by a skier regardless of gender, would do well to consider the example of Muhammad Ali.  Athletes who compete too long risk more than just blows to their ego.

 

Ali should have walked away from the ring long before he survived 548 rounds over 61fights.  The three Joe Frazier matches alone were enough to ensure his status as greatest heavyweight boxer of all time; unfortunately, it didn’t make—or keep—Ali rich.  Losing to the likes of Leon Spinks and Trevor Berbick not only tarnished that legacy, it probably helped ruin Ali’s health.  Maybe the Parkinson’s resulted from earlier fights, maybe these.

 

Vonn shouldn’t have money worries; she’s personable and could grow quite wealthy from endorsements.  But there’s a record, a challenge, a fight.  There always is and always will be.