Lindsey Vonn was born on October 18, 1984 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Her father, Alan Kildow, was a former junior national ski champion and so was her grandfather. When she was two, she joined Ski Hall of Famer Erich Sailer’s program at Buck hill in Burnsville. At age nine, she met her hero, ski racer Picabo Street, who became a mentor and recognized Vonn’s natural talent for the fastest path down a slope also known as the “fall line”.
She skied in international junior competitions and won the prestigious Trofeo Topolino in Italy at 14. When she was 12, her family moved to Vail, Colorado, in the late 1990s to further her skiing training at Ski Club Vail. She joined the Olympic Women’s Downhill, which is a high-speed Alpine skiing event on long, challenging courses like Cortina’s Tofane, emphasizing pure speed, technical skills, and courage. Vonn competed in this year’s Olympics in the women’s downhill skiing category, which is the world’s foremost international skiing event.
“I think it’s so interesting that she started at a very young age,” freshman Lija Walcott said. “Now she has become an Olympic skier who has won many medals,”
Vonn has won four women’s World Cup overall championships in 2008 and 2012, as well asOlympic Winter Games medals and eight world championships medals during her international racing career. She retired in 2019, but came back 5 years later to win more.
“I would assume that she really missed it,” Chemistry teacher Ellory Jones said. “Being an athlete at this level and retiring wouldn’t be easy. She might’ve felt weird and out of place experiencing a normal life instead of waking up early in the morning to ski.”
Unfortunately, on Feb. 8 Vonn crashed and fractured her complex tibia while competing in Women’s Downhill, which she currently requires multiple surgeries for a full repair. The cause for her injury was due to her pole getting caught on a course marker while going down at a very fast speed. She was flung into the air and fell awkwardly with her skis perpendicular to the fall line. Just a week prior to her current injury she ruptured her ACL, but was cleared by physicians to compete.
“I would feel disappointed if I were in her shoes,” freshman Lana Saddique said. “But like her father said, she has accomplished a lot, so I would be proud of what I’ve done.”
Her retirement hasn’t been stated officially yet, but her father has stated that she should not continue and has already accomplished a lot. On an Instagram post Vonn said, “The only failure in life is not trying.” and she expressed that her past injuries did not cause her current injury. She also said that she had no regrets about daring to dream, but acknowledged her Olympic journey didn’t end as she hoped.
“If I were her I would feel sad that my career might be ending, but I would also take time to appreciate the time I had with the sport.” Walcott said.
