Lindsey Vonn had dominated the alpine skiing sport up until her retirement in 2019. The legendary skier has won an Olympic gold medal, 82 World Cups, and four World Championships. During her illustrious career, she has been injured multiple times and is still getting treated for them. But that did not stop the American ace from taking on the biggest challenge of her life.

Lindsey Vonn had one last dream in mind before she could hang up her skis for good. She needed to conquer the Streif, which is known as the hardest downhill ski race in the world. Hence, when the opportunity presented itself, how could Lindsey Vonn resist?

Lindsey Vonn’s triumph on the Streif

The Streif is a downhill ski-racing course located in Kitzbühel, Austria. The 2014 movie, ‘Streif: One Hell of a Ride’ brought the course to the attention of all skiers around the world. The Streif plays host to the men’s World Cup Tour every year, but women skiers such as Lindsey Vonn have never had the chance to ski on the Streif.

In January, Vonn got the chance of a lifetime with a sudden offer from the energy drink brand Red Bull. Recently, she reminisced about the moment in the “In These Cleats” podcast.

The show shared a clip of Vonn speaking about the experience on their Instagram account, ‘inthesecleatspod’ teasingly writing, “NEW EPISODE ALERT Watch to our full interview with the incredible @lindseyvonn OUT NOW!” The hosts were in awe of the daredevil woman as she described the “emotional moment” and how it all came about.

Right after Thanksgiving, Red Bull contacted her with an unexpected proposal to race down the Streif. To their surprise, Lindsey Vonn replied, “Wow, this sounds amazing, yes!” The iconic skier did not even hesitate for a moment before saying yes to their proposal. However, Red Bull had one strange condition that also took the thrill seeker aback.

Red Bull upped the ante

The energy drink brand insisted that Lindsey Vonn race downhill the Streif at night. The Olympic skier confirmed if they would “light this course enough so I can see where I am going?” The company could not make a promise initially, but as the video showed, the course was indeed lit up.

Lindsey Vonn had barely six weeks to prepare, during which she reached out to U.S. skiing legend Ryan Cochran-Siegle to borrow his skis. Thereafter, she asked Heinz Hämmerle, her former serviceman, to modify them. Vonn’s goal was to reach a speed of over 60 miles per hour.

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After the historic run, Lindsey Vonn excitedly exclaimed, “I felt like I was jumping over the edge of the world“. She was equally nervous about the challenging course. With this incredible feat, Lindsey Vonn became the only woman to conquer the Streif and join the likes of great male skiers such as Franz Kallmer, Hermann Meier, Jean-Claude Killy, and Didier Cuche.

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