Lindsey Vonn: ‘I've been through quite a bit in my career, so I understand what grit is’

“I've been through quite a bit in my career, so I understand what grit is, so when I see another athlete, there's a certain level of understanding there,” Lindsey Vonn told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview in May.

The timing of the Alpine skiing legend’s comments, which also included a precis of the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup season 2022/23 that started this month, was not inconsequential.

They came after Vonn, who is good friends with recently retired icon, and fellow battler Roger Federer, had watched Rafael Nadal, arguably the King of Grit himself, win an incredible 14th French Open title. Despite an ongoing debilitating foot injury.

The Spaniard has won a record-breaking 22 Grand Slam tennis singles titles, the most ever in the men’s game in the Open era.

“Watching Nadal win the French Open was really incredible,” said the American ski legend, “His grit, I think, is pretty impressive. He's continuously come back from so many injuries and he's at an age now where many people write him off, but he fights for every single point and it's impressive to watch.”

Injuries were also the bane of Vonn’s equally lengthy career particularly as she specialised in the high-speed, high-octane downhill discipline. Just one snick of a ski on a rough patch of ice and a hard fall at rapid velocity was imminent.

Yet that didn't stop Vonn from claiming 82 World Cup wins in her career – just four victories short of equalling Swede Ingemar Stenmark's all-time record of 86. Twenty World Cup titles, three Olympic medals including downhill gold at Vancouver 2010, plus seven World Championship medals round out the now 38-year-old's trophy cabinet.

Vonn retired in February 2019 after her body was "screaming at her to stop", leaving the slopes for good after claiming one last world medal, a bronze in the downhill at the World Championships in Are, Sweden.

Vonn: Hall of famer

In June, Vonn was inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame alongside the likes of retired swimmer Michael Phelps and tennis legend Billie Jean King, two icons again who combine grit on and off the world sports stage, in mental health and equality, respectively.

“I think Billie Jean stands out to me. She's someone that really paved the way for women in sports. She’s always been someone that I've looked up to for inspiration. And in the last few years also become a good friend, which has been such an honour for me.

"But, you know, there's also people like Michael Phelps who I'm good friends with, too. And, you know, he's got so many medals, he doesn't know where to put them. So I just feel privileged to be not only honoured, but to be honoured with this class.”

2022-23 Alpine Skiing World Cup season

Vonn identifies three skiers ahead of the 2022-23 World Cup series – which breaks for the World Championships from 6-19 February in Meribel, France – as ones to watch.

Compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin, a slalom specialist, is already one of the most successful skiers of all time.

At just 27 years old, the American has won two golds and a silver from two Olympic Winter Games, six world titles, and last season claimed a record 47th World Cup slalom race win to become the most successful racer ever in a single discipline.

With 74 race wins to her name, Shiffrin’s next milestone will be to match Vonn's, then Stenmark’s tallies, and Vonn points to Shiffrin as likely to defend her overall title from last season.

Slovakia’s Petra Vlhova will be a challenger though, says Vonn, the 27 year old having finished behind Shiffrin last time out but won Olympic gold in slalom, Shiffrin's favoured discipline, at Beijing 2022 in February.

Vonn’s good friend Sofia Goggia of Italy, an Olympic gold and silver medallist in downhill, could also be in the mix for the overall title. “She's really close, she just needs to not be injured, first of all, and just finish the season and stay consistent,” says Vonn.

Wellbeing

It’s no surprise the trio highlighted by Vonn have mettle at their core, but for the next generation, this means as much mental as physical.

Vonn has only just started talking about her own mental health challenges throughout her career and beyond, but thanks to the likes of Vonn, artistic gymnast Simone Biles and tennis player Naomi Osaka, the new stars feel more able to talk more openly about their mental fitness.

Shiffrin particularly has talked truthfully about her struggle with wellbeing after the death of her father in 2020. The Colorado native also had a tricky Olympic Winter Games in Beijing where she was favourite for a number of titles but left with nothing… in terms of hardware, that is.

After some reflection, however, she came away with something potentially more valuable – perspective.

"It's like I would have never accepted the thought that I would DNF (did not finish) multiple times in a race before that loss [of my father], and so I never did it, it just... It was not even a possibility," Shiffrin told Olympics.com post Beijing 2022.

“But this time around it was like, ‘Well, I'm going for it, and the worst that can happen, I suppose, is that I don't finish, and I'm willing to risk that because it's just not the worst thing that's going to happen in my life.”

Grit, indeed.