Brian Steinberg / Variety /
NBC will air a one-hour documentary featuring an exclusive look at championship downhill skier Lindsey Vonn ’s attempt at making a comeback at 3 p.m., January 25, NBC Sports has announced.
“Lindsey Vonn: The Climb,” produced by Red Bull Media House in association with NFL Films and NBC Olympics, will give viewers an inside look into the past 22 months of Vonn’s career. The film documents Vonn as she recovered from two devastating injuries, and returned at a 2014 World Cup downhill race in Alberta, Canada, a critical milestone as she pursues more victories at the upcoming 2015 World Championships, slated to take place in her hometown of Vail, Colorado.
Encore presentations of “Lindsey Vonn: The Climb” will air on NBCSN beginning in February. The film will be available digitally on Red Bull TV starting January 28..
“The last two years have been filled with some of the biggest ups and downs of my career, and I’m excited to share this story with my fans,” Vonn said in a prepared statement. “This is the most inside look I’ve ever given to my world, and I hope it inspires others who are going through challenges to keep getting back up when they are down.”
Vonn crashed in her first race of the 2013 World Championships in Schladming, Austria, on February 5, 2013. After the Olympic champion was airlifted off the mountain to a nearby hospital, doctors discovered she had suffered complete tears of muscles in her right knee, which required season-ending and career-threatening surgery. Nine months later, with the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in sight, Vonn crashed again during a training run, re-tearing one of the muscles, and she ultimately was forced to withdraw from the Sochi Olympics.
Vonn was approached by NBC to provide commentary for last year’s Olympics, so the two parties have a prior relationship of sorts.
The documentary features never-before-seen video of Vonn’s second crash. Cameras take viewers into the operating room as orthopedic surgeon James Andrews repairs the athlete’s knee. The film then follows Vonn’s physical and emotional struggles as she attempts to return to the top of her sport, while remaining in the spotlight as her sport’s biggest star. With extraordinary access into her life, the film documents Vonn’s nearly two years of grueling rehabilitation, including her rehab sessions at the U.S. Ski Team’s training facilities in Vail, Colo, training camps and competitions in Chile and across Europe, as well as photo shoots and red carpet events that come as part of her stardom.
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