Lindsey Vonn Could’ve Become Simone Biles’ Competitor but Her 5’10” Height Pushed Her Towards Skiing

Olympic champion Lindsey Vonn wore her first pair of skis when she turned 2 years old. Her father, Alan Kildow, a former skier, introduced her to the sport. Ever since, she has dedicated a good chunk of her life to becoming one of the greatest skiers the world has ever seen.

She bagged 82 World Cup wins, just four shy of the overall record, and 20 Crystal Globes. She became the most decorated female skier and a legend in the sport. Though it seems other than skiing, Vonn doesn’t show an affinity for a lot of sports.

Lindsey Vonn tried other sports when she was younger

Appearing on Wait Wait…Don’t Tell Me! Podcast, Lindsey Vonn talked in-depth about her skiing career and her journey towards an illustrious career. As an extreme sport, alpine skiing leads to a lot of injuries, and Vonn has experienced that firsthand.

When the host asked her whether her father ever pushed her toward other sports, she revealed that there was a time she tried dabbling outside of skiing. “I mean, I tried a lot of other sports, and I have to say, I was absolutely terrible at all of them. I played soccer, and I – my only goal was against my own team,” she said.

That’s right, the self-proclaimed adrenaline junkie, whose gym regime got acknowledged by The Rock, doesn’t have a talent for many other sports. She gave a go at other ones too. “I tried Figure skating. And I liked the outfits a lot, but my dad pulled me out of that after about a month.” Even tennis proved to be a huge failure.

READ MORE: “No Six Figure Check Coming Our Way”: Unlike Billionaire Tiger Woods, Lindsey Vonn Struggled to Build Her Net Worth

Vonn could have been competing against Simone Biles

In her quest to find another sport she had the chemistry as skiing for, Lindsey Vonn stepped onto the gymnastics mat. America has one of the most powerful gymnastics teams on the international stage, and with the skier’s grit, perhaps she could have raised it to new heights. 

Unfortunately, that too didn’t quite work out. “Gymnastics – I was too tall since I was, like, 9 years old. So skiing was definitely where I had some talent,” she concluded. If Vonn had the same affinity for gymnastics as she does for skiing, we could have seen her go head-to-head with the GOAT Simone Biles. 

But as gymnastics favors the short-statured, the skiing legend’s 5-foot-10-inch height gave her a disadvantage. The host joked with Vonn she somehow “failed your way to a gold medal.” In the end, with the way she has pushed the boundaries of skiing, her choosing another field would have been a great loss for the sport.

WATCH THIS STORY: When Lindsey Vonn Adorably Tried to Mess Around With Ex-Beau Tiger Woods