From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
 Lindsey Vonn | ||
| Women's alpine skiing | ||
Competitor for the  United States | ||
| World Championships | ||
| Gold | 2009 Val d'Isère | Downhill |
| Gold | 2009 Val d'Isère | Super-G |
| Silver | 2007 Åre | Downhill |
| Silver | 2007 Åre | Super-G |
Lindsey Vonn (née Kildow, born October 18, 1984) is an alpine ski racer on the U.S. Ski Team. She is the first American woman to win back-to-back overall World Cup championships, which she has done in 2008 and 2009. She has also won World Cup discipline championships in downhill (also back-to-back) and Super G (the first American woman to do so). With 31 World Cup wins in four disciplines (downhill, Super G, slalom and super combined) and two World Championship gold medals (plus two World Championship silver medals), she has become the most successful American woman skier in World Cup history.
Personal life
Vonn was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and was raised in the Twin Cities metro area, in Apple Valley. She was on skis at age 2 before moving into Erich Sailer's renowned development program at Buck Hill, which also produced slalom racer Kristina Koznick. She commuted to Colorado to train for a couple of years before her family moved to Vail in the late 1990s.
Personal life
Vonn was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and was raised in the Twin Cities metro area, in Apple Valley. She was on skis at age 2 before moving into Erich Sailer's renowned development program at Buck Hill, which also produced slalom racer Kristina Koznick. She commuted to Colorado to train for a couple of years before her family moved to Vail in the late 1990s.
She married fellow 2002 Olympian and former U.S. Ski Team athlete Thomas Vonn on September 29, 2007, at the Silver Lake Lodge in Deer Valley, Utah.
When competing in Europe, she frequently stays at the home of her friend and major competitor, alpine skier Maria Riesch in Garmisch-Partenkirchen,Germany.Traditionally, Lindsay and Thomas Vonn spend Christmas Eve at the Riesch family home. The friendship with Maria and Maria's younger sister Susanne Riesch, another rising competitor in the sport, may explain her proficiency in the German language.
Early career
In 1999, Vonn became the first American to win at Italy's Trofeo Topolino (for skiers of 11-14 age) where she was victorious in slalom. After climbing through the ranks of the U.S. Ski Team, she made her World Cup debut at age 16 on November 18, 2000 in Park City.
2002-2005
In her Olympic debut at the 2002 Winter Olympics, Vonn raced in both slalom and combined in Salt Lake City, with her best result coming with sixth in combined. On March 4, 2003 she earned a silver medal in downhill in the Junior World Championship at Puy St. Vincent, France.
On March 24, 2004, Vonn was the downhill silver medalist at the U.S. Alpine Championships held in Jackson, Wyoming. In December of the same year Vonn climbed onto the World Cup podium for the first time in her career after claiming the downhill victory in Lake Louise, Alberta. She would go on to capture five more World Cup podiums over the next two months. For her December 17, 2005 downhill victory in Val d'Isere she chose to accept a cow from French cheese farmers as a prize.
Lindsey Vonn during a slalom race in Aspen in November 2006.
In 2005, she competed in four races at her first World Championships held in Bormio, Italy, pulling in fourth place finishes in both the downhill and the combined. She was also ninth in Super-G, but failed to finish the giant slalom.
2006-2007
In her second Winter Olympics in 2006, while training for the downhill race on February 13, 2006 in San Sicario, Italy, Vonn crashed and was evacuated by helicopter to Torino, where she was hospitalized overnight. Despite a bruised hip, she returned the following day to compete and finished eighth. The gritty performance earned her the U.S. Olympic Spirit Award, as voted by American fans, fellow Team USA athletes, former U.S. Olympians, and members of the media for best representing the Olympic Spirit.
Vonn earned her first "big race" medals with silver in both downhill and Super-G at the 2007 World Championships in Åre, Sweden. A training crash before the slalom caused her a low-level ACL sprain to her right knee, ending her season four weeks early. Nevertheless, she finished third for the season in the women's 2007 World Cup disciplines of downhill and Super G.
2008-2010
Lindsey Vonn wins the Overall World Cup title for 2008.
In 2008, Lindsey Vonn won the overall World Cup title. She became only the second American woman to do so, following Tamara McKinney in 1983. American Bode Miller won the men's title to complete the first U.S. sweep of the men's and women's overall titles in 25 years (McKinney and Phil Mahre in 1983). She also won the World Cup season title in the downhill and the U.S. Alpine Championships combined (downhill & slalom) title, marking her best ski season to date. Vonn also established a new all-time record for most downhill victories by an American with ten, winning at Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on March 8.
In 2009, Vonn repeated as overall World Cup champion, as well as repeating as champion in the downhill and also winning the season championship in Super G by winning the final race of the season. During the season, she broke Tamara McKinney's American record of 18 World Cup victories when she won the Super G at Tarvisio in February. Her nine World Cup wins also set an American single-season record, surpassing Phil Mahre's total of eight in 1982. At the 2009 World Championships in Val d'Isere, France, Vonn won her first world championship and became the first American woman to win the world Super-G title.In the super combined event, she won the downhill portion and had appeared to have finished second in the event with a strong slalom performance, but was disqualified for splitting a gate.Three days later she won the gold in the Downhill. During early 2009, she appeared in Alka-Seltzer television commercials in the United States as support for the United States Ski Team. During the summer of 2009, Vonn switched her equipment sponsor and supplier to Head skis, after previously racing her entire career on Rossignol skis.
In December 2009, Vonn sustained a bruised arm after a large crash during the opening run of the World Cup giant slalom. She continued racing as there was no fracture that would prevent her return and run at the Olympic Games in Vancouver.Despite skiing with her arm in a brace due to the injury, Vonn won three straight races (two downhills and a Super G) in Haus im Ennstal, Austria from January 8-10, 2010. The wins raised her to second among American skiers on the all-time career list for World Cup wins with 28, passing Phil Mahre (27 wins) and trailing only Bode Miller (31 wins). On January 14, 2010, Lindsey Vonn was named Colorado Athlete of the Year for 2009.
World Cup victories
Season titles
| Season | Discipline |
|---|---|
| 2008 | Overall |
| 2008 | Downhill |
| 2009 | Overall |
| 2009 | Downhill |
| 2009 | Super G |
| 2010 | Super G |
Race victories
31 race victories (17 downhill, 9 super G, 2 slalom, 3 combined)
| Season | Date | Location | Race |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004-2005 | December 3, 2004 |  Lake Louise | Downhill |
| 2005-2006 3 victories (2 DH, 1 SG) | December 3, 2005 | Lake Louise | Downhill |
| December 17, 2005 |  Val d'Isere | Downhill | |
| March 3, 2006 |  Hafjell | Super G | |
| 2006-2007 3 victories (2 DH, 1 SG) | December 2, 2006 | Lake Louise | Downhill |
| December 20, 2006 | Val d'Isere | Downhill | |
| January 28, 2007 |  San Sicario | Super G | |
| 2007-2008 6 victories (5 DH, 1 SC) | December 1, 2007 | Lake Louise | Downhill |
| December 21, 2007 |  St. Anton | Downhill | |
| December 22, 2007 | St. Anton | Super Combined | |
| January 19, 2008 | Cortina | Downhill | |
| February 9, 2008 | Sestriere | Downhill | |
| March 8, 2008 |  Crans-Montana | Downhill | |
| 2008-2009 9 victories (2 DH, 4 SG, 2 SL, 1 SC) | November 15, 2008 |  Levi | Slalom |
| December 5, 2008 | Lake Louise | Downhill | |
| January 17, 2009 | Altenmarkt | Super Combined | |
| January 30, 2009 |  Garmisch | Slalom | |
| February 1, 2009 | Garmisch | Super G | |
| February 22, 2009 | Tarvisio | Super G | |
| March 1, 2009 |  Bansko | Super G | |
| March 11, 2009 |  Åre | Downhill | |
| March 12, 2009 | Åre | Super G | |
| 2009-2010 9 victories (5 DH, 3 SG, 1 SC) | December 4, 2009 | Lake Louise | Downhill |
| December 5, 2009 | Lake Louise | Downhill | |
| December 18, 2009 | Val d'Isere | Super Combined | |
| January 8, 2010 | Haus im Ennstal | Downhill | |
| January 9, 2010 | Haus im Ennstal | Downhill | |
| January 10, 2010 | Haus im Ennstal | Super G | |
| January 22, 2010 | Cortina | Super G | |
| January 23, 2010 | Cortina | Downhill | |
| January 31, 2010 | St. Mor |