“It Wasn’t Fair”: Lindsey Vonn Found Comparison to Michael Phelps ‘Absurd’ After She Peaked in Her Olympic Career

Lindsey Vonn is one of the greatest Alpine skiers in the world. She has created several records in skiing, such as 82 World Cup victories, 18 victories on the same course (Lake Louise), 20 crystal globes, and 43 downhill victories. Moreover, she was the first woman from America to become a downhill Olympic champion.

When someone achieves something, they become eligible to be compared to the legends before them. The same happened with Lindsey Vonn. The media compared Vonn with the legendary Michael Phelps.

It wasn’t a fair comparison: Lindsey Vonn

Vonn won the gold medal in Vancouver in 2010. Moreover, she became the first American woman to win gold in the downhill event. After winning the gold medal, the media started comparing her to the legendary Michael Phelps. Vonn didn’t appreciate the comparison and said, “When I won the gold, again the press started with the Michael Phelps thing, which was a lot of pressure and also kind of absurd.” 

Vonn further explained, “It wasn’t a fair comparison because, for one thing, Michael Phelps is a super-human, but also skiing isn’t the same as swimming.” Not only Vonn, no one would like to get compared to such an unmatchable legend after conquering a huge event, especially for the first time.

Competing in skiing and competing in swimming are different

Vonn thinks there cannot be any comparison between a swimmer and a skier. Vonn wrote, “Michael Phelps could win the one-hundred-meter butterfly, the two-hundred-meter butterfly, the two-hundred-meter freestyle, the two-hundred-meter freestyle relay. He could dominate in the same event for different distances”.

Vonn further wrote, “In skiing, we have separate events. None of them are repeats, and none of them are the same. I mean, I wish we had a twenty-second downhill, a forty-second downhill, a sixty-second downhill. . . . That would be great, and I think I would have more medals if that were the case. But unfortunately, that isn’t the way it works.”

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It becomes hard for athletes to perform if there is external pressure on them. Similarly, in this case, when Lindsey Vonn was peaking in her career, the comparison with Michael Phelps must have been difficult for her.

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In addition, as she mentioned in her book, swimming and skiing are two very different sports. However, Vonn has retired from professional skiing and has left a legacy for the upcoming skiers from the USA.