Vonn Talks "Emotional" Olympics, Retirement Plans
Lindsey Vonn is leaving the 2018 Winter Olympics with a bronze medal - and her head held high. “I’m really happy with my performance. I gave it everything I had,” she tells Cosmopolitan.com. The 33-year-old world champion ski racer, who has competed in four Olympic Games, is proud of her accomplishments, but can’t help but feel a bit melancholy this time around since she is “99.9 percent” sure that she will never step foot on an Olympic podium ever again.
“I think it was my last and that’s why I really tried to enjoy every moment of these Games,” she says. “It really was emotional throughout all of my competitions and when I was on the podium, because I feel like that was definitely the last time.”
At the 2013 World Championships, Vonn suffered a knee injury serious enough that it stopped her from competing in the Sochi Olympics a year later. Although she recovered in time for this year’s Games, she doesn’t think she can compete at her highest level in 2022. “In my mind and in my heart, I would love to keep going another four years, but physically I just don’t think that I can do it.”
As Von sets her eyes on retirement, the ski world looks for another hero to cheer on. They have seemingly found that in Mikaela Shiffrin, the 22-year-old alpine ski racer who took home the gold for Team USA in the giant slalom competition in PyeongChang. “Mikaela is an incredible talent,” Vonn says. “I think she’s incredibly accomplished already. She’s got it figured out.”
So, what’s next for Vonn? Below she tells Cosmopolitan.com about one last record she wants to break before retiring, why she will continue to use her voice to impact change, and one famous super-fan that she wants to give a special shout-out.
She is planning a trip with the girls after the Olympics.
I’m going back to my house in LA; I’m just going to take some downtime and relax. I’ve been going for eight years getting ready for these Olympics, so I think I just need a couple of days off. We’re also working on a vacation with my other teammates from the U.S. team on the alpine side - [it will] probably in the Spring with all of us and some former ski team members, as well.
But she has one more record to break before retiring.
I’m still going to be racing in the World Cup. There’s one more record that I would like to break before I retire, which is the World Cup win record. There’s one man [Ingemar Stenmark] that has 86 victories, and I have 81. I’m definitely going to keep skiing until I can get to that number.
