“I Was Definitely on the Wrong Program”: Skiing Icon Lindsey Vonn Regrets About the Most Important Phase of Her Professional Life

Three-time Olympic medalist Lindsey Vonn faced several adversities in every phase of her career; career-threatening injuries, sleep disorders, and depression to name a few. However, they were no excuses to slow down her pace. Besides, her thirst to find solutions rather than getting bogged down by the problems was crucial in supporting her to achieve a record of 82 World Cup victories.

The Lindsey Vonn foundation is an effort to encourage young enthusiasts in sports to help them realize their potential and channel their energy for the benefit of the individual and sports community as a whole. This brings to mind a piece in Rise: My Story, where she discusses her utter helplessness in the early phase of her career.

No luck despite the resources

Lindsey wrote in her book that they had a ton of talent in the team and huge resources but they were never put to their best use. “I was definitely on the wrong program,” she said. Recounting the days when she was an 18-year-old, she regretted stating, “We had so many great racers, but we were understaffed.”  

Notably, they even had a lot of sponsors and different programs. She said, “The U.S. Team had a lot of money in 2002.” Unfortunately, they weren’t utilized correctly. She continued that having money doesn’t mean a team would be successful. 

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Regarding the coaches, she said, “In my late teens, I had a few coaches who, simply put, were harsh and blunt and just not nice.” Furthermore, the skiing icon recalled that some girls would cry. Also, there were a few times the coaches got fired only after two or three months. 

Lindsey Vonn owes her strength to the Kildow genes

Vonn credits her father’s gene for her strong bones and toughness. In her book, she referred to it as the Kildow genes. Also, she explained that they were big-boned people and not slight. Being genetically “puffy” as described, she found that it was affecting her performance negatively. She realized that it was a reason why she had trouble with slalom races, with short courses and fast turns. 

Eventually, the ski racer discovered a way to channel her passion without being upset about what was not favorable to her natural self. Vonn shifted her focus on training in speed events and saw more and more success. Nevertheless, she participated in slalom races to keep herself toned.  

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Lindsey had her goal clear and practiced winning habits of discipline, undeterred focus, and hard work. She fought against all the odds to emerge as one of the greatest ski racers of all time. Vonn proved that there are times when it just takes a slight shift from the routine you are doing to make that game-changing move.