“Somewhere Between $25000–50000”: Compared to Millionaire NFL Coaches, Lindsey Vonn Once Revealed the Upsetting Reality of Her Sport

Sep 21, 2022 | 8:00 AM EDT

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Lindsey Vonn, one of the most decorated alpine skiers, is a person of great wisdom. She fought several odds to earn a prominent place in the world of sports. The three-time Olympic medalist held onto the sport, despite her multiple injuries until retirement in 2019. The legend’s experiences are unprecedented and have a lot of insightful lessons to learn from. One might wonder why Lindsey didn’t choose to become a skiing coach.

Just a quick perusal through the pages of ‘Rise: My story’, one will wonder about the realities the triumphant individuals face in sports. What’s more surprising is the athletes continue to pursue a particular sport besides knowing that opportunities are very limited post-retirement. Considering this, a skiing fan would find it shocking to learn about the sad reality of being a coach.

Lindsey Vonn shares a sad fact about being a skiing coach

Lindsey stretched herself to the maximum capacity to set the bars high for the upcoming skiers. She ultimately conquered it with a record 82 World Cup titles.

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Post-retirement, she chose a career completely different from the one she had all her life. One way through which an athlete can continue to be in the relevant sport after retiring is by coaching. The skiing champion writes in her book that hardly any racer would choose to get into it.

She also mentions that in her entire life, she has come across only five women ski coaches so far. “On top of all that, ski coaches get paid very little money.” She said. Lindsey compares the skiing coaches with NFL coaches who get paid millions, whereas skiing coaches make “somewhere between $25,000-50,000”. She continues to say that being a coach is ultimately a passion job, not something to do for glory or a big paycheck.

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Vonn felt dismissed

Ski racing sport finds men playing prominent roles across all levels. The skiing champion mentions she got used to feeling dismissed and even not-so-subtly ridiculed by some of those who ran the sport. However, with time, she learned to ignore their “offhanded comments, their slights and dings” and used them as fuel to remind herself of her goals.

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Instead of fighting this disturbing status quo, the skiing smart broadened her horizons by becoming an author, growing her business acumen with collaborations, and making great strides through her foundation. She is one of the influential people in the world of sports.

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