about lindsey
After achieving everything there is to win in skiing and battling back from a series of career-threatening injuries, Lindsey announced that the 2018/19 season would be her last, prompting a long goodbye for one of the sport's greatest ever athletes.
Unfortunately, her final season started with a couple of setbacks as she suffered a knee injury while training at the Colorado ski resort of Copper Mountain in November 2018 before enduring more heartache at Cortina d'Ampezzo, in Italy: In the first training she jumped wide in the finish area, hurt herself which lead to tremendous pain in her knee and calf. But Lindsey was undeterred and mounted another impressive comeback by finishing 15th in the Downhill category of the event in Cortina on January 18, 2019 and followed that up with an impressive ninth-place Downhill finish the following day.
Even though Lindsey didn't crash in the Super-G race in Cortina, the persistent pain she was suffering (she twisted her knee with too much pressure) in both of her knees convinced her to conclude her glittering career early.
"My body is broken beyond repair and it isn't letting me have the final season I dreamed of," said Vonn after the event in Italy. "My body is screaming at me to stop and it's time for me to listen."
On February 1, 2019 she then officially announced via Facebook that she will end her career after the World Championships in Åre, Sweden.
Due to injury Lindsey did not start at the speed competitions in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as more and more therapy sessions were necessary:
So apart from ski training she was working one week with a physio-specific special support by ASP Red Bull for her last goal, the upcoming World Championships in Åre.
At her last World Championships, the event in Åre, Sweden she competed in the Super-G and Downhill.
Despite only one Downhill training was possible, Lindsey went all out for podium places. Unfortunately, she suffered a heavy crash in Super-G while trying to get a medal. Thus, she fully focused on regeneration to be able to start at the Downhill race.
Lindsey managed to record a fitting end to her career with a sensational third-place finish in the Downhill and with this medal she secured her eighth World Championships medal!
That final bronze medal brought the curtain down on an amazing career for Lindsey and cemented her legendary status as one of the greatest skiers to grace the slopes.
On February 10, 2019 Lindsey officially retired from Alpine ski racing.
For the first time in a long time, Lindsey had 'regular' summer training in New Zealand and Chile. However, her knee would continue to cause issues and pain throughout the season. Only the collaboration between the US Ski Team and ASP Red Bull made it possible for Lindsey to compete over the whole season.
Lindsey suffered a run of bad luck at the season-opener in Lake Louise, crashing in the first Downhill, but her courageous performance in the second Downhill resulted in a 12th place. Lindsey then crashed in the Super-G the following day.
On December 16, 2017, despite a back injury the previous week in St Moritz, Lindsey took her first victory in 11 months in the Super-G in Val-d'Isère and with it her 78th World Cup victory. She pulled out of the second Super-G the next day to rest her sore knee.
Lindsey took four victories in the last four Downhill races of the season, at Cortina (January 20, 2018), Garmisch twice (February 3 / this was her 80th World Cup victory and 4) and Åre (March 14), three times beating her friend Sofia Goggia, who snatched the Downhill World Cup title by just three points in the end.
At the PyeongChang 2018 Olympic Winter Games, Lindsey won the bronze medal in Downhill.
At the end of 2017-18, Lindsey's record stood at 82 World Cup victories, only four behind Ingemar Stenmark's all-time record.
Season's highlights:
16.12.2017 Val-d'Isère (FRA) 1st place Super-G
19.01.2018 Cortina d'Ampezzo (ITA) 2nd place Downhill
20.01.2018 Cortina d'Ampezzo (ITA) 1st place Downhill
03.02.2018 Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) 1st place Downhill
04.02.2018 Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) 1st place Downhill
21.02.2018 Pyongchang (Olympic Winter Games) Bronze medal Downhill
14.03.2018 Åre (SWE) 1st place Downhill
15.03.2018 Åre (SWE) 3rd place Super-G
In November 2016, Lindsey broke her upper arm in a training crash at Copper Mountain, Colorado, USA, and underwent surgery in Vail. The injury raised a big question mark about whether she'd be able to contest the new World Cup season, especially when it became clear that the injury was more severe than initially expected, with nerves also affected. After consultation, Lindsey, the US Ski Team and Robert Trenkwalder/Head of Athletes Special Projects (ASP) Red Bull created a detailed plan of action to provide optimal physiotherapy. Lindsey zealously began working every day towards her recovery and making a comeback as soon as possible.
On January 15, 2017, Lindsey made that comeback at the Downhill race at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria. After delays due to persistent winds, fog and snowfall, just one Downhill training session took place on Sunday before the race. Lindsey finished in 13th place. However, under a week later Lindsey caused a sensation by winning the Downhill at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, on January 21. This was her 77th World Cup victory! At the next Downhill at Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Lindsey got the leading split time but dropped out, fortunately without injury. On the following day Lindsey claimed a solid 12th place in the Super-G.
Come February, Lindsey won Bronze in the Downhill at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Championships in St Moritz, Switzerland. Ten years after her first podium in Åre, Sweden, this was Lindsey's seventh World Championships medal, which she described as "amazing" and "nearly worth Gold", and which made her the oldest female medal winner at a World Championships. In the Combined race (Downhill and Slalom) Lindsey claimed a sensational fifth place, considering her very few Slalom training days.
In March, Lindsey took two more podium spots on the 2018 Olympics slope in Jeongseon, Korea, with second places in Downhill and Super-G. She achieved another superb second place in the Downhill race at the season finale in Aspen, USA, battling a bad cold which also unfortunately results in a crash in the Super-G the following day.
Once again this season, coming back after such a severe injury to be so successful, has shown that Lindsey's an exceptional athlete. The whole team behind Lindsey - the US Ski Team, her ski technician and ASP Red Bull - always give their all and constant co-ordination to provide her with the best conditions. Preparations for the next season are already underway.
For the third time in her career, Lindsey won all three World Cup races (two Downhills, one Super G) in Lake Louise from December 4-6, 2015, the Super G victory her 70th in World Cups and a new discipline record as she reached 25 Super G wins to overhaul previous record holder Hermann Maier. After this successful weekend, Lindsey not only led the Downhill and Super G World Cup rankings but also took the lead in the overall World Cup rankings. Later in December, Lindsey won the giant slalom in Åre, Sweden, her first Giant Slalom victory since January 2013.
January 2016 saw World Cup races at St Anton transferred elsewhere in Austria to Zauchensee, due to lack of snow. Despite the disruption, Lindsey won the Downhill race, held over two runs, as well as the Super G. With the first victory, Lindsey now had 36 Downhill wins to her name, the same number as Austrian skiing legend Annemarie Moser-Pröll in her career between 1969-80.
In Cortina d'Ampezzo, Lindsey once again proved her skills to win both Downhill and Super G, taking her to 11 wins in Cortina since her first podium in January 2004, and by winning the Downhill race she now exclusively owned the female record for Downhill with 37 victories. The success in Super G also brought her back on top of the overall World Cup rankings.
Come February, Lindsey added her fifth Downhill win of the season in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, also clinching third place in Super G and extending her lead in the overall rankings, and now held 76 wins in five World Cup disciplines. On a very emotional weekend for Lindsey in La Thuile, Italy, where the postponed Downhill of Crans-Montana was run instead alongside another Downhill and a Super G, Lindsey secured her 20th career World Cup Crystal Globe with a strong second place in Downhill on Saturday. By winning her eighth Downhill title, she became the most successful skiing athlete of all time in the speed disciplines. Third place in Super G on Sunday heralded her 126th career World Cup podium.
Heavy snowfall and strong wind characterised the Super G race in Soldeu, Andorra at the end of February. Lindsey started with bib number 16, was in the lead at the second split time but suddenly crashed heavily, doing a right turn shortly before the finishing line and having to be carried off the slopes by the emergency rescue sledge. The first diagnosis was a hairline fracture at the tibial plateau of the left knee! Despite this injury, Lindsey started in the alpine combination the next day, where at that point she lay second in the alpine combination ranking. She clinched the best time in Super G and with a solid slalom run ended in 13th place, sharing the lead in the alpine combination ranking with Marie-Michele Gagnon (CAN) and Lara Gut (SUI).
Unfortunately the joy about this excellent performance quickly turned to despair, as further examinations of her knee showed that Lindsey had a triple fracture in the tibial plateau. After long and careful consideration, Lindsey decided to abort her season. Though this was probably one of the toughest decisions of her career, with a likely fifth overall World Cup title to come and possibly other Crystal Globes. Such a decision takes a lot of courage and greatness, and once again showed Lindsey's exceptional personality.
The close co-operation within her team, the familiarity with her closest consultants and coaches around the US Ski Team and ASP Red Bull as well as Lindsey's ski technician once again played an essential role in this extraordinary season, where they were key to progress at such a high level and proved what's possible with such a team. Right now, rest is the order of the day for Lindsey, but she and her whole team are ready to start with the preparations for the upcoming season as soon as possible.
Lindsey Vonn's remarkable recovery from a two year injury layoff saw her back to her best and breaking records during the 2014/15 winter season. On December 5, at her first event of the season at Lake Louise, Alberta, she managed eighth place in the first Women's World Cup downhill. In the following day's downhill, however, she won the race. This took Lindsey's total wins at Lake Louise to 15 and her total World Cup wins to 60. Chasing down and passing Annemarie Moser-Pröll's record of 62 Women's World Cup wins was now clearly the aim.
Before Christmas, Lindsey added another World Cup win to her collection by topping the downhill podium in Val d'Isère. The American was then able to maintain her winning momentum in 2015 when she hit the slopes of Cortina d'Ampezzo in January. A downhill victory drew the Olympic gold medallist level with Moser-Pröll on 62 World Cup wins and the next day Lindsey went one better by clocking first place in the Super-G race. With her family by her side, Lindsey Vonn was crowned the best female skier of all-time.
Following a further Super-G win in St. Moritz the attention switched to a return home to compete at the Alpine Skiing World Championship in Vail/Beaver Creek. Lindsey picked up a bronze medal in the Super-G race and was unlucky to miss out on the podium of the downhill race. She also registered a very respectable 14th place in the giant slalom, a discipline she had not attempted for over two years.
Lindsey was back on the top step of the podium with a World Cup Super-G win in Garmisch-Partenkirchen which served as the perfect preparation for the season finale in Méribel. The downhill and Super-G titles were a straight fight between the American and Austria's Anna Fenniger. With Lindsey showing coolness under pressure in the final races she secured both titles - her 7th downhill and her 5th Super-G globe, as well as the 5th speed-double of her career. In addition to this she also earned a superb third place in the Overall World Cup.
As well as passing Moser-Pröll's Women's World Cup record Lindsey also finished the season with 19 globes to equal the record of legendary Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark.
This is her amazing globe-record:
4 x Overall globe
7 x Downhill globe
5 x Super-G globe
3 x Combined globe
It has been an amazing comeback season with so many highlights - a new record of Women's World Cup wins, the Super-G bronze medal at the World Championships, the World Cup titles in downhill and Super-G plus third place in the Overall World Cup.
Cooperation with the US Ski Team, ASP Red Bull, as well as Lindsey's ski technician and physiotherapist were all crucial elements in her comeback.
Presently the preparations for the upcoming season are already in full swing and Lindsey's defined goal is another Overall World Cup title.
After her heavy crash at Schladming, Austria on February 5, 2013 had ended the previous season prematurely for Lindsey, she dedicated herself to rehab for six months before getting back on her skis. Lindsey's hard work with the Red Bull Athletes Special Projects unit in Austria in July 2013 following her knee surgery paid off as she was back on the piste on August 31 at Portillo in Chile.
Lindsey decided to rest and prepare further instead of competing in the World Cup-opening GS race in Sölden, Austria.
But then on November 19 during the team Downhill training at Copper Mountain, USA Lindsey crashed heavily again.
But just nine days after this crash Lindsey made a first try back on skis. And her return to World Cup competition came on December 6 at Lake Louise, Canada. This was Lindsey's very first race after her crash at Schladming - and on this weekend she entered all three races! Lindsey's determination to get back in the game was rewarded with a dramatic improvement in Alberta from 40th place in the first Downhill race on Friday to 11th place in the second Downhill on Saturday, and a fifth-place Super G finish on Sunday. Not wishing to rush her recovery, Lindsey skipped the following World Cup contests in St. Moritz and Courchevel.
Before the end of the toughest year of her career there another cruel blow to come as Lindsey retired from the Downhill on December 21 at Val d'Isère, France, after her knee "completely gave out" and she missed a gate. With a serious cruciate ligament tear diagnosed, the chances of representing her country at the upcoming Olympics were now hanging by a thread.
After undergoing an intensive period of physiotherapy Lindsey was forced to abandon her hopes of skiing in Sochi, announcing on January 7, 2014 that her knee was still too unstable since the incident in Val d'Isère and made safe skiing impossible. The 2013/14 season ended for Lindsey with further knee surgery and total focus on making a complete recovery from her injuries.
The Olympic and World Championship gold medallist is now following precisely a rehab programme prepared by the team of her surgeon and the physiotherapist. Then, in co-operation with Red Bull Athletes Special Projects, a specific fitness training is ensued.
Lindsey is working hard and she is totally determined to be back on top of the mountain during the forthcoming 2014/15 season.
After a stellar season in 2011/12, Lindsey had high hopes of continuing her dominance of Alpine skiing this past winter, however illness and injury would come to hamper the four-time overall World Cup champion.
Falling ill at the beginning of November 2012, Lindsey recovered sufficiently for the speed events and she swept all three races at one of her favourite venues, Lake Louise, in Canada, at the beginning of December. It was her third career hat-trick and increased her record for the most career wins at a single resort to 14. The treble also increased her career total to 56 wins, moving the American past Vreni Schneider and into second place in the all-time women's standings, behind only Annemarie Moser-Pröll (62 wins).
However, still suffering from her illness in November, it was almost impossible for Lindsey to keep the remaining strength for the on-going races. As a consequence she had a setback at the races in France in the middle of December which lead to the decision about taking an extended break over the Christmas period. During this time Lindsey intensively worked on conditioning and regaining her strength, whereas the entire focus was on the upcoming World Championships in February. Whilst at the same time this was also the first Christmas holiday Lindsey has spent at home in years.
As a result, Lindsey made a successful comeback at the Downhill/Super G in St Anton, Austria, in January, in preparation for the World Championships in Schladming the following month. She also won the downhill in Cortina, in Italy, as well as clinching a sensational victory at the Giant Slalom in Maribor, Slovenia, and travelled to Schladming in confident mood. Fate was not on Lindsey's side, however, as a knee injury sustained in the Super G was to cut short an already-disrupted season, with the 28-year-old returning to the USA for surgery shortly afterwards.
Lindsey is currently undergoing a rehabilitation programme which is coordinated in the well-proven way by Red Bull and the US Ski Team as she targets a return to the slopes and the kind of form that has made her one of her sport's biggest stars.
At the start of the 2011-12 season in Sölden, Lindsey finally realized one of her biggest goals: winning a Giant Slalom. Only four other female skiing legends (Janica Kostelic, Anja Paerson, Pernilla Wiberg and Petra Kronberger) have triumphed in all five disciplines.
That's not all. Despite private worries after her divorce from her husband, Lindsey also surpassed Renate Götschl's Super G record with 18 victories and took the Austrian's place in the rankings for most female World Cup wins. In the 2011-12 season, Lindsey won 12 races to take her third with 53 victories. She's now closing on Vreni Schneider (55 wins) and Annemarie Moser Pröll (62 wins).
In a fruitful season for Lindsey, she clinched her fourth overall victory (beating Tina Maze by an astonishing 578 points) as well as titles in Downhill, Super G and Super Combined. In total, Lindsey has now won 16 crystal globes.
Finally, at the World Cup finals in Schladming, Lindsey surpassed Janica Kostelic's benchmark by scoring 1,980 points in one season, setting yet another new women's record.
If 2011/12 is anything to go by, it looks like the first lady of alpine skiing will reign for a few years yet.
Those plans delivered an even more successful season in 2009/10. Lindsey's 33rd World Cup win came in the Super G in Garmisch, helping Lindsey to surpass Bode Miller's record for most World Cup victories by a US skier. The win also wrapped up her third consecutive overall title, and she became the first American skier to win three discipline titles in a single season. To top it all, Lindsey became the first American woman to win Olympic gold in the Downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She also netted bronze in the Super G.
This avalanche of victories continues. In 2011, Lindsey again took the Downhill, Combined and Super G titles, only narrowly missing out on a fourth overall World Cup title. After clawing back her friend Maria Reisch's massive lead it went down to the wire. But poor weather conditions at the season's finale in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, meant Maria nabbed the title. Lindsey claimed another silver in the Downhill at the 2011 World Championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.
As a measure of Lindsey's impact on international sport, she was named Laureus World Sports Awards Sportswoman of the Year 2010, as well as the 2010 and 2011 ESPY awards. But all these medals and gongs pale into insignificance next to one particular achievement - as one of the few truly recognisable faces in skiing Lindsey bagged a part in her favourite TV show, Law & Order.
Still in her mid-20s and with the skills to match her determination, Lindsey is sure to leave a few other new entries in the sporting world's record books.
Accompanied by Red Bull's Athletes Special Projects team and the speed coaches of the US ski team, such as Alex Hoedlmoser, Lindsey, by now Lindsey Vonn, has her sights firmly set on one ambitious goal: to become an all-round winner. Whereas her peers tend to specialize in one or two disciplines, Lindsey racked up nine wins and 16 podiums in four disciplines this year. She bagged her maiden Slalom victory in Levi, comfortably winning the Overall World Cup, the Downhill and the Super-G World Cup at the end of the season. But her record in the other disciplines was also impressive this season: in the World Cup super-combined she finished second, finishing third in the World Cup Slalom and eighth in the World Cup Giant Slalom. By contrast, the World Championships in Val d'Isere would turn out to be an emotional roller coaster: Lindsey won Gold in the Downhill and Super-G, but seriously injured herself on a broken champagne bottle during the victory celebrations. Red Bull ASP flew Lindsey to Innsbruck by private jet, where she underwent tendon surgery and was fitted with a splint. But her World Championship chance had come and gone: Lindsey had to skip the Giant Slalom, and after sensationally clocking the second-fastest time in the Slalom she skied out in the second run. She had already been disqualified from the super-combined for splitting a gate.
Infuriating, yes. But perhaps it will give Lindsey an extra push ahead of the forthcoming season, especially with the next major event with medals up for grabs being the Olympic Games in Whistler - which has always been Lindsey's long-term goal. "I'll be training harder than ever for this season," she announces. "Cause if you work hard," she says, "it will pay off in the end."
"Setbacks motivate me," Lindsey stressed again. And proved her point by dominating the speed disciplines in the 2007-08 season almost at will. One reason for this was the highly professional preparation as part of the Red Bull Athletes Special Projects: "The advantage is that we don't have to look after an entire team, instead we are able to focus on individual athletes," explains head of the Red Bull ASP Robert Trenkwalder. "During training my specialists for fitness and physiotherapy monitor every relevant parameter, allowing them to precisely tailor the scope and intensity to Lindsey's needs." Which especially applies to periods of training following injury, when a dedicated team of experts works with the fitness coach and physio to get the balance between recovery and training exactly right.
It's not unusual for Lindsey to be in the gym at 6am, carefully warming up in preparation for the stresses which the body will soon have to deal with. "Lindsey is driven by winning," says Trenkwalder, "which on the one hand is reflected in extremely professional self-discipline. On the other hand, she wants to give one hundred percent every time, all of the time.
Unfortunately it can result in her crashing out and injuring herself unnecessarily." But this year Lindsey had her ambition well under control. Combined with "so it appeared at the time" the form of her life, Lindsey won the Super Combination in St. Anton and five downhill races. The one in Lake Louise, of course, as well as the brutal test of courage in St. Anton and the classics in Cortina, Sestriere and Crans Montana. The series of victories not only garnered her the top rung in the downhill World Cup but also fulfilled her childhood dream: her first victory in the Overall World Cup.
"When Red Bull Energy Drink invited me to be part of their Athletes Special Projects," says Lindsey, "I didn't need to think twice. I had a feeling this was going to be my big chance."
At the very beginning, the legendary Tyrolean coach and head of Red Bull Athletes Special Projects, Robert Trenkwalder, presented an unique concept to the coaches in charge at the US Ski Team, Patrick Riml and Alex Hoedlmoser - thus, out of a unique concept - an unique agreement arose. And this was paving the way for an excellent future cooperation between the US ski team and the team of ASP Red Bull.
Truly, the team turned Lindsey's life upside down, transforming the 20-year-old into the world's most professional skier.
She had an entirely new training regime, specifically tailored to Lindsey's needs; she took German lessons to make her day-to-day life in the major Alpine skiing countries easier; and targeted fitness and physio sessions during the competitive season. "At first, I would question every new suggestion," she says. "During power training, for example, I wanted to know the exact benefits of each individual exercise. Gradually I saw my strength and performance improve, so my confidence in it grew."
Direct from summer training in Oregon and Chile, she dashed out of the gates in December of that year to take victory in the Downhill events at Lake Louise, Canada and Val d'Isere, France.
The traditional spoils of the French race is a cow, which she happily received. The cow is appropriately named Olympe, and Lindsey still keeps the pet on a farm near the US Ski Team's training base in Austria.
Lindsey was even more tempted by another prize - namely an Olympic medal. "Last time I went to the Olympics, I was basically there for the experience, and it was really fun," Lindsey recalls. But 2006 was a different story. Heading for Turin, she was one of the women's US Ski Team's biggest hopefuls. Unfortunately, it was not to be. During a practice run, Kildow crashed and ended up in hospital. She was shaken, but the hospital eventually released her - Lindsey hadn't come this far not to race. She finished eighth in Downhill, seventh in Super G and 14th in the Slalom, despite that harrowing crash.
And there it was again, the attitude of never letting setbacks get her down: "That happened for a reason," she said. "It was a missed opportunity, but it gave me the fuel and motivation that I needed."
And need it she did: Lindsey crashed again in Austria, in October 2006. "I had a bit of bone bruising. It hasn't totally cleared up, but it's not preventing me from skiing," she commented. Indeed not. She bounced back to win the Downhill at Lake Louise (a place where she always seems to shine) with second places in another Downhill and Super G. A victory at Lake Louise followed in the Val d'Isere Downhill, one in the San Sicario/Sestriere Super G and six other podiums. Two of the most valuable she celebrated at the World Championships in Are, where Lindsey won silver in the Downhill and Super G. But she ended the season with a pulled tendon.
Her progress continued in 2003 with a Silver medal at the Junior World Championships, as well as a Silver and a Bronze at the US Nationals. She continued to progress in 2003-04, winning two Gold medals at the US Championships, two medals at Junior Worlds, and making her first World Cup podium in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The following season was even more exciting, with Lindsey capturing her maiden World Cup race victory and attending her first World Championships. She racked up 13 top-five finishes in World Cup and World Championship events, standing on the podium six times and ending the season ranked sixth overall in the world. By the start of 2005 Lindsey was right up where she belonged: with the best ski racers in the world. But she wanted more. Nothing less than the best would do. A fateful meeting would open the door - giving her career an unexpected push.
The youngster came on in leaps and bounds. At the age of 14, she became the only female American ever to win Italy!s Trofeo Topolino contest "dubbed" "Junior-Junior Worlds" and her name was entered into the Golden Book of Champions alongside girls who had gone on to win the Overall World Cup title.
In her first year of top-level competition, 15-year-old Lindsey finished on the podium at several NorAm events. Her first International Ski Federation (FIS) victory came in 2001; that same year she also bagged a Super Series win, as well as the Bronze in Combined at the US National Championships. In the same season she raced in her first Slalom World Cup. In the Super-G in Val d'Isere she scored her first World Cup points, finishing 26th.
Born in 1984, Vonn had her earliest experiences on skis falling down and picking herself up again in a US state not particularly known for being mountainous, Minnesota. But with a grandfather and a father who were competitive skiers, little Lindsey started carving the local hill aged just three. "I began racing at seven, and by nine I was doing international events," she remembers. Her talent as a small child proved so big that the whole family considered relocating for the sake of better training opportunities. Eventually her parents, brothers and sister all moved to Vail.
