With 82 World Cup wins, 20 major titles, a gold medal in 2010 and two World Championships titles to her name, Lindsey Vonn is a true sporting icon. Find out more about the American's career here.
Cortina, January 2004
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If adversity makes you stronger, I think I’m the Hulk at this point
Sportswoman of the Year 2010 & 2012
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former US Olympic champ and Lindsey’s idol
Aged 16
Lindsey Caroline Kildow
IN MY OPINION, SHE'S THE BEST THERE'S EVER BEEN IN THE MODERN ERA, AND I WOULD SAY SHE'S THE BEST THERE'S BEEN EVEN COMPARED TO (INGEMAR) STENMARK, BECAUSE STENMARK WASN'T ABLE TO COMPETE IN ALL THE DIFFERENT EVENTS.
Lindsey Vonn’s training regime would wreck you
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2019 Skieur d'Or
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No wonder the Canadian venue has long been known as ‘Lake Lindsey’ after Lindsey’s astonishing run of success there but none of her record 18 wins at this one venue had quite the impact of the downhill at the end of a year where more injury woes had kept her out of the Sochi Olympics. In just her second race back after almost a year out through injury, she roared to the most emphatic win with nearly half a second lead. "I remember that one being very emotional because after two years, you don’t really know what’s going to happen,†she recalled. “It meant the world to me, just unbelievable, like dream day.â€
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Downhill discipline titles
Vancouver, February 2010
Major injuries
During training Lindsey crashed badly and had to be airlifted by helicopter to hospital fearing she had broken her back and pelvis. Only when MRI scans, astonishingly, showed no breaks did she hobble out of bed and try to make the great escape from the wards, determined to defy her badly bruised thigh, back and pelvis and compete in the big race 48 hours later. She did too, going through excruciating pain to finish eighth, a performance that earned her the U.S. Olympic Spirit award.
Cortina, January 2015
Awards
Bode Miller
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What's Lindsey's top recorded speed?
Legacy
When I was a teenager, I had one really bad year where I didn’t finish in 50 out of 55 races. I almost quit. I made the team by the skin of my teeth.
Lindsey owns a small herd of cows and a goat - read more about the things you didn’t know about her here.
I love racing, love being in the starting gate, with so much pressure that you feel suffocated. And then you throw yourself down the mountain….
Ian Chadband
First World Cup Podium
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Surgeries
Downhill wins (all-time World Cup record)
For Lindsey, the memory of her first World Cup podium finish, a third place in the downhill at the Italian resort of Cortina that was to become one of her favourite venues, will never be erased. “It was the day I finally believed that I belong in the World Cup; before then, I didn’t really believe I could be that competitive and I remember ringing home and crying on the phone to my dad, saying ‘I finally made it!’,†recalled Lindsey.
Super G (all-time World Cup record)
First Olympics
She’s one of skiing’s greatest ever athletes. Over her career, nobody went faster and more flat-out for longer than Lindsey Vonn. Again and again she defied the odds, showing incredible determination to battle back from adversity, rebuild her body and keep adding to a long list of achievements. Overall she racked up 82 World Cup race wins, including an unreal 71 in the speed disciplines; 20 World Cup titles, including four overall, an Olympic and two world championship golds … but these statistics tell only a part of her greatness.
Speed, skill and steel how Lindsey Vonn became a sporting icon
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Lake Lindsey
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Awarded by United States Olympic Committee
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Associated Press Athlete of the Year 2010
In January 2014, when her Sochi Olympic dream foundered while she was suffering with injury...
The faster she went, the bigger the smile she got on her face. You can't teach somebody to love the fall line like that little girl loved the fall line.
Awarded by Association Internationale des Journalistes de SKi
USOC Sportswoman of the Year 2009 & 2010
Olympic Games Medals
Lake Louise, December 2014
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Olympic Gold
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FIS Overall World Cup Champion 2005 & 2008
Laureus World Sports Awards: Sportswoman of the Year 2011
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Began skiing:
Podium finishes
Overall World Cup titles
Lindsey Vonn
World cup debut:
Saint Paul, Minnesota, October 18, 1984
Picabo Street
BORN:
Awarded by La Gazzetta dello Sport
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Turin, February 2006
63rd World Cup win
Lindsey’s preparations for the dream race of her career were severely disrupted just a fortnight before who she severely bruised her shin in training. The pain was so bad that she had to admit she would have difficulty competing. This time, a little luck was on her side when unseasonably warm weather and poor snow conditions saw the race moved back in the programme, giving the injury more time to heal. On the Whistler slopes, she demolished the field by more than half a second to become the first American woman to capture the sport’s biggest prize.
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Watch Lindsey Vonn: The Climb about her extraordinary comeback
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Vonn
Total races
Youth
Only bested by Ingemar Stenmark Race wins: 86 (all-time record)
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Total seasons
5+
Lindsey
Lindsey Vonn
equal women’s all-time fastest
World Cup titles (all time record for any skier)
Super G discipline titles
Race wins
Combined discipline titles (Downhill + Slalom)
...Lindsey adopted a nine-month-old dog Leo, who had been in an animal shelter after being hit by a car. Like her, Leo had undergone a knee operation and the kindred spirits helped each other through a tough time. "I was in a really bad place and Leo started to give me some hope and lift my spirits."
Lindsey Vonn cemented her greatness with a 63rd World Cup victory that took her past Annemarie Moser-Proell's all-time record of 62 that had stood for 35 years and made her the most successful woman skier in history. And what a way to achieve sporting immortality, as she produced a flawless run down the Olympia delle Tofane course, finishing 0.85 seconds faster than her nearest challenger. “I have given a lot to the sport and I have received so much in return. When I started Alpine skiing my goal was to win one race; now I belong to the history of the sport.†Read more about Lindsey’s Greatest Races here.
World Championship Medals
Written by
Lindsey Vonn
