‘’First Person to Do This’’: Lindsey Vonn Heaps Praise on 21-Year-Old Snowboarder for Creating History With a Dangerous Act

In April 2022, history was made when Japanese snowboarder Reira Iwabuchi became the first woman from the sport to successfully land a frontside triple cork. The incredible feat was achieved at The Nines- a ski and snowboard session in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Almost a year later, Reira achieved another record to her name as she became the first female snowboarder to land a triple in a competition. Elated by such an incredible achievement, skiing legend Lindsey Vonn joined others to praise the young athlete.

Showering her love and support to the rising star, Vonn posted an Instagram story. Clearly, impressed by her achievement, Vonn’s few words spoke volumes.

Lindsey Vonn, in all praise for Reira Iwabuchi

In a quick tidbit, ESPN shared an Instagram post to highlight Iwabuchi’s historic achievement. Re-sharing the post on her Instagram story, American skiing star Vonn too joined the brigade with words of encouragement. “First person to do this! Sick! 🔥” read Vonn’s caption on the story she shared. Even though Vonn refrained from sharing lengthy passages, her crisp words and choice of phrase was enough to show her appreciation for the young athlete.

For those unversed, Iwabuchi marked her name in the history books of snowboarding as she successfully mastered the triple underflip at the prestigious 2023 X Games in Aspen. Doing so, she eventually became the first woman to achieve the feat. Her landing was clean and perfect.

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Before she wowed the judges with her triple, she secured a 40 out of 50 with backside 1260 in her second run. However, in the next round, she finished with a 47 for a total score of 87. This helped her to secure the cup. She won the competition with just a one-mark difference from defending champion and gold medalist Zoi Sadowski-Synnott. The day ended with Iwabuchi getting the gold, Synnott securing the silver, and Blouin winning the bronze. As Iwabuchi looks forward to creating more such records, retired legend Vonn, too, prepares herself for an important surgery.

Vonn is preparing herself ahead of her knee replacement surgery 

Skiing has rewarded Vonn in more ways than she could ever imagine, but with all the awards and medals, there’s something she still fights with- her ‘knee pain.’ Hours of practice, a strict diet, and countless injuries have left her with unbearable knee pain. Thus, to improve her knee strength, the retired star now looks forward to undergoing knee replacement surgery.

Though the date of the surgery remains unclear, it is expected that she will undergo the surgery in spring this year. For those unversed, she had already undergone knee surgery earlier last year. Thus preparing herself ahead of it, she now concentrates on improving her strength.

Watch This Story: Lindsey Vonn Once Opened Up About How Tiger Woods Helped Her in Coping With Pressure.