Vonn, Lindsey (1984-…), was a champion American Alpine skier. Vonn won four overall World Cup Championships and 82 World Cup races. She also competed in four Winter Olympic Games, winning one gold medal and two bronze medals. In addition, she won two World Ski Championship titles.
Vonn achieved her greatest success in World Cup racing. World Cup titles are awarded annually to the men and women who have won the most points in a series of races in different skiing events (see Skiing (Alpine competitions)). Vonn won the World Cup downhill title in 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2016; the super G title in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2015; and the combined title in 2010, 2011, and 2012. In 2010, when she won the downhill, super G, and combined events, she became the first American skier to win World Cup titles in three events in the same season. Vonn won the overall World Cup titles in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012 for earning the most combined points in all the events.
In the opening race of the 2011-2012 season, Vonn gained the first giant slalom victory in her World Cup career. With the win, she became the first American woman to win in all five Alpine skiing events. When Vonn won the World Cup downhill title in 2016—her 20th World Cup title—she surpassed the career record of 19 World Cup titles held by Swedish skier Ingemar Stenmark, which he established from 1975 to 1984. Vonn’s total of 82 World Cup race victories ranks second only to Mikaela Shiffrin‘s total among female skiers.
In Olympic competition, Vonn won a gold medal in the downhill and a bronze medal in the super G in 2010, and a bronze medal in the downhill in 2018. Vonn won World Ski Championship titles in the downhill and the super G in 2009. She took silver medals in the downhill in 2007 and 2011. She added a bronze medal in the super G in 2015 and a bronze medal in the downhill in both 2017 and 2019. The World Ski Championships are held every two years and determine champions in the same five events that make up World Cup competition.
Lindsey Kildow was born on Oct. 18, 1984, in St. Paul, Minnesota. She began skiing at the age of 3 and competed in her first World Cup event in 2000. In 2007, Lindsey married the American skier Thomas Vonn, a member of the 2002 U.S. Olympic team. The Vonns divorced in 2013. Lindsey Vonn retired from skiing in 2019. Her autobiography, Rise: My Story, was published in 2022.
