“They Pushed Me”- Lindsey Vonn Once Recognized Training With the Men’s Team Enhanced Her Performances

In sports, competitions are usually gender-specific. As such, people generally stick to the group of their gender while training. However, history has witnessed exceptions to this case, more so in recent times. Lindsey Vonn opened up about a similar experience during an interview.

The skier discussed various topics during the interview. However, one part that stuck out was when she mentioned her training regimen.

How does training with the men’s team challenge Lindsey Vonn?

In the interview, Lindsey Vonn revealed that she had recently returned from training in Chile. Many athletes go abroad to train. It is especially true for winter sports athletes as they visit other countries to train during their country’s off-season in their respective sport.

But what she said next had people wondering about her training sessions. Vonn said, “I just came back from Chile. I was training down there with the US men and Norwegian men’s team. And it was fun. I had a great time.”

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However, she had good reasons to train with the men’s team of both countries. After making her statements, she sensed questions from people. So the three-time Olympic medalist added, “You know I like training with guys because they pushed me you know to ski faster and be a better skier. And that’s pretty fast.”

Then one of the hosts asked her if she was the only female athlete present on the team. To this, the Olympian proudly replied, “Yes, the only one.”

However, this is not a surprising development in sports. Female athletes in other disciples, too, have adopted this tactic to help improve their performance. And some even achieved positive results after the stint.

Another athlete who finds training with male athletes beneficial

The most notable and recent case that comes to mind is swimmer Katie Ledecky. During a Team USA ceremony hosted by President Joe Biden in May, the decorated swimmer echoed Vonn’s words when speaking with media personnel.

Standing on the South Lawn of the White House, Ledecky said, “It’s something that I knew would help me in my career at this point, training with some of the top male distance swimmers in the world and being in that environment.”

And Ledecky had the results to show at this year’s World Championships, where she clinched four gold medals. It put her just second to Michael Phelps in the medal tally at the Worlds.

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Vonn, too, had a brilliant run at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup that year, which was a few days after the interview. So perhaps there is some truth to it!