Lindsey Vonn
SKIER OF THE YEAR
INTERNATIONAL ALPINE SKIER OF THE YEAR
U.S. ALPINE SKIER OF THE YEAR
GEPA
A year after Lindsey Vonn’s good friend Maria Hoefl-Riesch ended Vonn’s
three-year string of World Cup overall dominance by just three points, Vonn
answered with a season that rivaled the best in World Cup history.
“Last year taught me a lot of things, and the most important is to never get
comfortable and never think that you have won a race before you have,”
said Vonn after clinching her fourth overall title with five races to spare.
“That mentality had really stayed with me the whole year. When I’m in the
starting gate, I know I have to risk everything, and if I win, great; if not,
then that’s just the way it is. But I know that I have given it everything that I
have; it’s a different way of thinking. I’m having more fun spending time with
my teammates and having more fun with my life. It’s been a really unique
experience, and I’m enjoying every moment I have.”
Vonn’s record-breaking 12th season on the World Cup tour got off to
a screaming start with her first-ever World Cup GS win in Soelden. Her
season hit some turbulence just one month later in Aspen, when she
announced she would be splitting from her husband of four years and
personal coach, Thomas Vonn. The next weekend, Vonn shattered all
doubt, starting a four-win streak in Lake Louise that continued with a
surprise super G victory in her hometown at Beaver Creek.
The Minnesota native went on to haul in 12 World Cup wins on her way
to earning 1,980 points, setting a new women’s record and just missing
Hermann Maier’s 2,000-point high mark.
The five-time world championships medalist closed her season with
a dominant showing in the World Cup finals downhill, winning by
over a second on the same course that will host next season’s world
championships.
The new, lone-standing Vonn is stronger and more fun loving than ever.
