Lindsay Vonn Headshot - P 2014
Brad Barket/Invision/APUntil she pulled out of the Winter Olympics in early January, skier Lindsey Vonn had been the U.S. face of the Games, gracing magazine covers and earning a starring role in NBC’s marketing.
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And while she won’t be traveling to Sochi for the network’s coverage, which begins Feb. 6 with the team figure skating competition, Vonn will be participating. She’ll join NBC Sports as an Olympic correspondent, reporting daily for the Today show. Vonn’s ongoing knee rehabilitation means she cannot travel to Russia for the Games, so she’ll report from the Today studio in Manhattan.
A gold medal winner at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, Vonn had hoped to compete in Sochi despite a devastating injury at the Alpine world championships in Schladming, Austria, in February 2013. She underwent surgery that included having tissue from her hamstring used to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee. But she re-injured her knee during a training run in Colorado last November.
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After she pulled out of the Sochi Olympics, NBC Sports executives expressed interest in Vonn as a correspondent. Vonn’s camp was still in discussions with NBC Sports as late as last week when NBC Olympics executive producer Jim Bell hedged as to whether Vonn might join the network’s coverage in some capacity.
She’ll also appear on the Today show Tuesday to update viewers on her rehabilitation.
