“Someone That I’ve Looked Up To”: Lindsey Vonn Was Left Elated Following Her Induction in the US Olympic Hall of Fame Alongside Michael Phelps and Billie Jean King Earlier This Year

Four-time World Cup Champion Lindsey Vonn is a skiing prodigy. Vonn is also one of the six-women skiers to bag the World Cup in all the five existing categories of the alpine skiing disciplines. Moreover, in the 2010 Winter Olympics, she became the first American woman to win gold in the downhill category. As of now, Vonn has earned a total of 82 World Cup trophies throughout her career.

Apart from her gold medal in 2010, she also won the Laureus Sportswoman of the Year. In the same year, the United States Olympic Committee also recognized her as the sportswoman of the year. Recently, in June 2022, she was also inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame. Notably, she shares her name alongside some OG athletes like Michael Phelps and Billie Jean King.

Lindsey Vonn expressed her feeling about the Hall of Fame honor.

Lindsey Vonn has had a spectacular skiing career. She never settled and had planned several things to achieve. One of Vonn’s greatest wishes was skiing against men. Although she had big hopes of turning her dream true, it never happened. Eventually, she retired from skiing in 2019 and is now a full-time businesswoman.

In June 2022, Lindsey found her name inducted into the US Olympic Hall of Fame, which left her overwhelmed. Given Vonn shares the US Olympic Hall of Fame with Phelps and Billy Jean King, the 4-time world champ adores both. She adores them for their grit and mental health advocacy. In an interview with Olympics.com, Vonn expressed her gratitude and respect to Billy Jean.

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“I think Billie Jean stands out to me. She’s someone that really paved the way for women in sports. She’s always been someone that I’ve looked up to for inspiration. And in the last few years also become a good friend, which has been such an honour for me,” Vonn said.

She also expressed about being good friends with Phelps;

“But, you know, there’s also people like Michael Phelps who I’m good friends with, too. And, you know, he’s got so many medals, he doesn’t know where to put them. So I just feel privileged to be not only honoured, but to be honoured with this class.”

Why did Vonn retire?

In 2019, Vonn retired because her body was not allowing her to remain active in her sport. She had experienced several injuries that she wanted to neglect and continued. However, she had to listen to her body and retire with a heavy heart. Her last race was at the 2019 world championship in the downhill category, in which she won a bronze medal.

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Currently, Lindsey Vonn is a businesswoman investing in several brands. She is also the brand ambassador of ski equipment brand Yniq is one of her key investment brands. Moreover, Vonn is also a model, sports expert, writer, and media personality.