PHOENIX — Lindsey Vonn is the most decorated American skier of all time. She picked up skiing at a young and has since used it to get through some of life’s biggest adversities.
Here are 4 things you didn't know about her:
She competed in her last Olympics in 2018
Her Olympic career spanned 16 years across four Olympics. At 17 years old, she competed in her first Olympics in 2002 in Salt Lake City. She competed in the Alpine combined and slalom, where she finished in 6th place and silver medaled respectively.
At her last Olympics in Pyeong Chang, she won in a downhill bronze.
After that race, she was very emotional. Through tears, she said, “I wish I could keep going. I have so much fun. I love what I do...I’m proud to have competed for my country, I’m proud to have given it my all.”
By the end of her career, she was considered by many to be the “greatest female skier ever.” In the end, she earned three Olympic Winter Games medals and eight world championships medals.
She suffered many injuries during her career
Vonn’s legendary career didn’t come easy. She clawed her way to career peaks despite numerous injuries that at times threatened her success. Over the course of her career, she sustained multiple ACL tears, fractures, broken bones, and concussions. A complete ACL tear caused her to withdraw from the Sochi Olympics in 2014.
Due to her knee injuries, she competed in her last Olympics race in 2018. At the time she said, “If I could physically continue skiing, then I absolutely will. But at this point, it takes a lot to make my knee good enough to ski downhill, it has to be pretty solid to push yourself at these speeds and be able to trust it.”
Even despite that, she continued on to compete in the world Olympics the following year where she secured her 82nd win, making her the all-time leader in women's World Cup race victories.
Vonn battled depression
On the TODAY show in January, Vonn discussed her battle with depression. She said that people often mistook her success as happiness.
“Everyone thought that because I was successful in the mountain I was always happy and had this perfect life and that’s not true,” she said.
She said her depression took a turn for the worse after she decided to retire in 2019. But she eventually learned how to find happiness outside of skiing.
She just released a book
Vonn released her memoir, “Rise: My Story” on Jan.11. In it, she details the mental health challenges she faced as she achieved greatness.
“I just wanted to share who I am as a person, not just a skier and hopefully people are inspired to overcome their own adversities in the process,” Vonn said on the TODAY show.
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