Two months before the Winter Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, Olympic gold medal skier Lindsey Vonn claimed she would be representing the United States, but not President Trump, when she returned to the Winter Games.
Vonn, who won a gold medal in the women’s downhill competition in 2010 in Vancouver, skipped the 2014 Sochi games because of knee injuries.
“I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president,” Vonn said this week amid the buildup to the 2018 games in PyeongChang, South Korea. –FOX News
Vonn’s ridiculous and unnecessary comments threw her into the middle of a nasty controversy on social media. Unfortunately, with one hateful statement, Vonn managed to alienate a large number of fans who were rooting for her to bring home the gold for the United States. If she didn’t already know, someone should have told Vonn that U.S. Olympic athletes are supposed to be representing the United States of America, and not the President of the United States.
Only three days after Vonn’s statement about boycotting President Trump’s invitation to the White House, she suffered a back injury that caused her to lose the World Cup race, as she placed 24th in the competition.
Yesterday, Vonn, 33, lost her first Olympic race in eight years after a late mistake that cost her a medal. Americans responded to her loss on social media, reminding her of her desire to make her race about her hate for Donald Trump instead of about representing America.
Here’s how Vonna responded to her loss on Twitter:
Frustrating to be so close to the podium and to have made such a big mistake…but that’s ski racing. I’m proud of the way I skied and how I attacked the course. I gave it my all and came up short. That’s life. Now it’s on to the Downhill! 💪🏻
— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) February 17, 2018
Here’s how Twitter responded to Lindsey Vonn:
USA OVER PARTY included a video of Vonn losing the race, reminding her that the Trump curse is real: “Yes the Trump Curse is real
A perfect run…and DOHHHH
Hahahahaha” #Olympics #LindseyVonn #MAGA #Choke
https://twitter.com/michaelbeatty3/status/964698174802739200
“Bella Donna” responded to Vonn’s loss: “Guess “Lindsey Vonn” won’t have worry about declining that Trump invitation to the WH after all!”
https://twitter.com/DonnaMLanglais/status/964700743713386497
“Darrell Standing” posted a reminder for Vonn that anyone who spews unwarranted hate for President Trump on social media, doesn’t typically fare too well:
https://twitter.com/StandingDarrell/status/964839370204303360
And then came the memes…
https://twitter.com/michaelbeatty3/status/964903324611788800
ESPN writer Julie Foudy came to the defense of Lindsey Vonn, tweeting: “I just spent last 20 min’s reading thru tweets directed at @lindseyvonn. Sickened & disgusted once again by the lack of humanity that engulfs our country. She just raced her damn heart out & Trump supporters gloat/cheer/celebrate her inability to medal. Is this what we’ve become?”
I just spent last 20 min's reading thru tweets directed at @lindseyvonn. Sickened & disgusted once again by the lack of humanity that engulfs our country. She just raced her damn heart out & Trump supporters gloat/cheer/celebrate her inability to medal. Is this what we've become?
— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) February 17, 2018
Foudy admonished another Twitter user who explained her disappointment in Vonn for making her race about politics: “So if an athlete has different political views than you, you are happy they don’t medal. This is what I was reading too much of on twitter. This what we’ve become. God help us all.”
https://twitter.com/Mikki_Michelle_/status/964756793439260674
Lindsey Vonn responded to Foudy, who again defended Vonn. The only problem is, Vonn forgets that she is the person who started the controversy. She decided to make the race about politics, not President Trump and certainly not his supporters:
It’s ok Julie. Not everyone has to like me but my family loves me and I sleep well at night. I work hard and try to be the best person I can be. If they don’t like me 🤷🏼♀️ their loss I guess… Thank you for the support🙏🏻❤️ https://t.co/EaySJE7QAe
— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) February 17, 2018
Foudy responded, still refusing to acknowledge that Vonn was responsible for the firestorm she chose to start
I hear you. But the vitriol in our country is everyone's loss. Cheering for an Olympian to fail sent me over the edge. Go kill it on Wednesday sister. https://t.co/SnsDORwdb2
— Julie Foudy (@JulieFoudy) February 17, 2018