Lindsey Vonn was honoured by the Laureus World Sports Academy in 2019 when she was presented with the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award to mark the end of her remarkable career as the greatest women’s Alpine skier in history; as well as the greatest American skier, male or female. In 2021, she was invited to become a member of the Laureus Academy and accepted.
In her career, Lindsey won four Overall World Cups - one of only two female skiers to do so - with three consecutive titles in 2008, 2009, and 2010, plus another in 2012. She also won a record eight World Cup Downhill titles.
In 2016, she won her 20th World Cup title, the overall record for men or women, surpassing Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, who reached 19. Her total of 82 World Cup race victories is a women's record. She was a winner in all five Alpine skiing disciplines.
She won the downhill gold medal at the Winter Olympics in 2010, where she also won bronze in the super-g, which led to her receiving the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year Award.
Lindsey’s record is phenomenal, but she could have won even more. Injuries caused her to miss parts of several seasons, including almost all of 2014 and most of 2013.
It was fitting that she decided to leave the slopes a year after one of her most courageous performances in the 2018 Winter Olympics where she was one of the stars of the show. Despite breaking her right arm three months before and suffering a back injury a month after that, Lindsey fought back to win a bronze medal in the downhill. It was a personal triumph for her as she had missed the 2014 Games in Sochi with injury.
In February 2019 in Monaco, when she was presented with the Laureus Spirit of Sport Award, she said: “I think sport has a unique opportunity to change people in ways they never expected. My comebacks have always made me a stronger person. I’m very sad to be leaving my sport but I know that because of everything I’ve learned, I can take that into the next chapter of my life and do something even more incredible.”
