Lindsey Vonn

Alpine skier Lindsey Vonn was born Lindsey Kildow on October 18, 1984, and grew up in the Twin Cities area of Minnesota. Vonn was skiing by the time she was two years old and began training soon after. When Vonn was 11, the family relocated to Vail, Colorado so Vonn could receive exclusive training at Ski Club Vail. During her time in Vail she was homeschooled. She describes the experience as wonderful, but sometimes regretted missing out on the more traditional aspects of American childhood and adolescence. Vonn made her Olympic debut at the age of 17 when she competed in both slalom and combined races in Salt Lake City. Vonn did not medal in those games, and, soon after a bike ride with a fellow skier that left her miles behind and out of breath, Vonn made the decision to drastically revise her training. She has also won a record eight World Cup season titles in downhill, consecutively from 2008 to 2013, and again in 2015 and 2016; five titles in super-G from 2009 to 2012 and again in 2015; and three consecutive titles in the combined from 2010 to 2012. She won her 20th World Cup crystal globe title in 2016, setting a new record among both men and women alpine skiers. Vonn has also been awarded World Cup honors in each of the five disciplines of alpine skiing, one of only six women to do so. Vonn won the gold medal for downhill skiing in the 2010 Winter Olympics, the first American woman to achieve this honor. She also brought home the bronze medal in the super-G event. She was forced to skip the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi due to an injury. In 2017, Vonn's training led her to compete in the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Prior to departing for PyeongChang, she also achieved two more World Cup victories in December 2017 and January 2018, winning the Super-G in Val d'Isere, France, and the Downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Once in PyeongChang, she scored another victory, bringing home the bronze medal for the U.S. in the ladies' downhill event.