“Called ‘Chicken’ and ‘Chicken Wings’”: Skiing Icon Lindsey Vonn Once Confessed She Was Bullied For Her Looks as a Teenager

Lindsey Vonn, the three-time Olympic medalist alpine skiing racer, transformed herself into a person of enormous physical and mental strength. Despite retiring in 2019, Lindsey gave no excuse to keep herself fit and healthy. The five-foot-ten-inch skier turned businesswoman, is undeniably a classic example of how making the right effort can change one’s life. Interestingly, she learned this trick at a very young age.

Lindsey’s life has been rich with experiences. From an aspiring skiing racer to an Olympic medalist to becoming one of the best racers ever, besides accolades and glory, the journey gave some challenges she least expected. However, they weren’t hard for her because she dealt with every phase with the right spirit. A phase during her teenage years saw her being bullied for her physique. Did it break her?

Lindsey Vonn recounts changing standards

Every time there’s a change in life, it demands one to fit into a new system. Most of them quietly agree with the new order but not Lindsey. She recounted a time they mocked her for having a lean physique. 

The Olympic gold medalist skier recalled that before she was 17, she was “incredibly skinny”. “I was made fun of and called ‘chicken’ and ‘chicken wings’” she said. She was tall and weighed about 30 pounds less than she was then. Then she gained weight because her metabolism slowed down. And that brought Lindsey to the other end of the spectrum.

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“I’m normal-size, but when I started to do well and do events and photo shoots, I felt like I was too big.” The feeling of being the odd one out didn’t bother Lindsey. She took it in the right spirit to only make her more confident when she said, “I feel like the odd man out sometimes, but that’s even more reason to be confident”

Vonn handles herself with care

Walking the red carpet meant handling a rush of emotions. “I’m definitely quite a bit heavier than everyone else.” She said. However, it doesn’t stop there. One would agree that she found her way out of the maze of overwhelming emotions when she said, “You don’t have to be a size 2 to be beautiful. Any size is beautiful as long as you’re confident in yourself.” Isn’t her outlook on life empowering?

Vonn also believes in healthy eating, and said that sugary foods don’t agree well with her. “When I’m eating really clean and splurge on something really sugary, I feel like I’m going to vomit,” she said.  

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Regarding dealing with breakups, she said, “I think it’s just given me more time to spend on myself.” Fair to say, Lindsey as a personality is a self-made sculpture carefully carved keeping in mind the lessons she learned and what best works for her.