American Lindsey Vonn Wins Olympic Gold Medal Despite Injury

Nearly a week after announcing that she had a severely bruised right shin, American athlete Lindsey Vonn won the gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympics Wednesday in the Women's Downhill Ski event.

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She is the first American woman to win this competition.

In the first alpine race, Vonn soared down Whistler Mountain, and according to the New York Times, she took the most aggressive line of all the top skiers.

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"I couldn’t believe the feeling when I looked up and saw my name with No. 1 next to it," Vonn said. "It was an unbelievable feeling. I didn’t know what to do, so I just fell down."

Still, her injury -- which caused many to doubt she could even compete -- is still painful.

"My leg hurt throughout and it still hurts," Vonn said. "There was so much going on and so much adrenaline, I just blocked it out."

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Her time of 1 minute and 44.19 seconds beat the second-place winner's time by more than a half second.

Her American teammate Julia Mancuso took the silver medal, and Austrian Elisabeth Goergl won bronze.

Lindsey Vonn