Lindsey Vonn’s sixth-place finish in the combined at the 2002 Salt Lake Games may have been easy to overlook, but she was just 17 years old, and it would stand as the best finish for an American woman in ski racing at those Games. Even at that age, the little-known Ski Club Vail prodigy had been racing on the World Cup circuit for a year while taking correspondence courses to finish high school. “I want to go to the prom and things like that, and I can’t,” she told me with wide-eyed innocence. “That’s a little tragic, but it’s my life and I like it.” Now, that part of her life is nearing an end. Because of a succession of knee injuries, Vonn announced Friday that she will retire after racing downhill and super-G at the world championships this month. “My body is broken beyond repair and it isn’t letting me have the final season I dreamed of. My body is screaming at me to STOP and it’s time for me to listen,” Vonn posted on Instagram. View this post on Instagram It’s been an emotional 2 weeks making the hardest decision of my life, but I have accepted that…