Lindsey Vonn (born October 18, 1984 in St. Paul, MN), fomerly Lindsey Kildow, is an elite member of the U.S. Ski Team's alpine skiing program. She was raised in the Twin Cities area (in Burnsville, MN) and was on skis at age 2 before moving into Erich Sailer's renowned development program at Buck Hill. She commuted to Colorado to train for a couple of years before her family moved to Vail in the late Nineties. She married fellow 2002 Olympian and former U.S. Ski Team athlete Thomas Vonn, Sept. 29, 2007 at Utah's Deer Valley Resort.
After climbing through the ranks of the U.S. Ski Team, she made her Alpine Skiing World Cup debut on Nov. 18, 2000 in Park City, UT. Two years later, she made her first U.S. Olympic Team and competed at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Career Highlights
1999 - Trofeo Topolino - Became the first American to win at Italy's Trofeo Topolino (for skiers 11-14) where she was victorious in slalom.
2000 - U.S. Championships - On March 24, 2004 and at the age of 16, Vonn was the downhill silver medalist at the U.S. Alpine Championships held in Jackson, WY.
2002 - Olympic Winter Games Debut - In her Olympic debut at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games, Vonn raced in both slalom and combined in Salt Lake City, UT, with her best result coming with eighth in slalom. The race was held at Deer Valley Resort.
2003 - Junior World Championships - On March 4, 2003 she earned a silver medal in downhill at Puy St. Vincent, France.
2004 - World Cup Victory - On December 3, 2004 Vonn climbed onto the World Cup podium for the first time in her career after claiming the downhill victory in Lake Louise, Alberta. She would go on to capture five more World Cup podiums over the next two months.
2005 - Named to U.S. World Championships Team - Vonn competed in four races at her first World Championships held in Bormio, Italy, pulling in fourth place finishes in both the downhill and the combined. She was also ninth in super G, yet failed to finish the giant slalom.
2006 - Olympic Winter Games - Torino, Italy - In her second Olympic Games, while training for the downhill race on Feb. 13 in San Sicario, Italy, Vonn crashed and was evacuated by helicopter to a Torino, where she was hospitalized overnight. Despite a bruised hip, she returned the following day to compete and finished eighth. The gritty performace earned her the U.S. Olympic Spirit Award, as voted by American fans, fellow Team USA athletes, U.S. alumni Olympians and members of the media for best representing the Olympic Spirit.
2007 - World Championships Medals - Vonn earned her first "big race" medals with silver in both downhill and super G at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2007 held in Are, Sweden.
Injuries
2003 - Vonn suffered a left hip strain in an early season crash that caused her to miss nearly four weeks of racing and a shot at the World Championships.
2006 - Sustained a bruised hip during a crash while training for the downhill race on Feb. 13 at the 2006 Winter Olympics in San Sicario, Italy. Less than a month later she retunred to the World Cup tour to earn her third World Cup win of the season, and the first super G victory of her career, as part of an historic three-way tie for the win.
2007 - A training crash before the slalom at the 2007 World Championships caused a low-level ACL, sprain to her right knee, ending her season four weeks early.
Top Results
Olympic Winter Games
| Event | Place | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 2002 Olympic Games |  Salt Lake City, Utah
|
6th Combined, 32nd Slalom |
| 2006 Olympic Games |  Torino, Italy
|
7th super G, 8th Downhill, 14th Slalom, DNF Combined, DNS Giant Slalom |
FIS World Alpine Championships
| Event | Place | Results |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 World Championships | Bormio, Italy
|
4th Downhill, 4th Combined, 9th Super G, DNF Giant Slalom |
| 2005 World Championships |  Are, Sweden
|
Silver Downhill, Silver Combined, DSQ Super Combined, DNS Slalom |
FIS Alpine World Cup Podiums
| Date | Location | Event |
|---|---|---|
| January 18, 2004 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
|
3rd Downhill |
| December 3, 2004 |  Lake Louise, Canada
|
1st Downhill |
| December 5, 2004 | Lake Louise, Alberta
|
3rd super G |
| December 21, 2004 |  St. Moritz, Switzerland
|
2nd super G |
| January 6, 2005 | Santa Caterina, Italy
|
2nd Downhill |
| January 14, 2005 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
|
2nd super G |
| January 15, 2005 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
|
3rd Downhill |
| December 3, 2005 | Lake Louise, Alberta
|
1st Downhill |
| December 17, 2005 |  Val d'Isere, France
|
1st Downhill |
| January 22, 2006 | St. Moritz, Switzerland
|
3rd Super Combined |
| January 27, 2006 | Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy
|
3rd super G |
| March 3, 2006 |  Hafjell/Kvitfjell, Norway
|
1st super G |
| March 15, 2006 | Are, Swedend
|
2nd Downhill |
| December 1, 2006 | Lake Louise, Alberta
|
2nd Downhill |
| December 2, 2006 | Lake Louise, Alberta
|
1st Downhill |
| December 3, 2006 | Lake Louise, Alberta
|
2nd super G |
| December 19, 2006 | Val d'Isere, France
|
3rd Downhill |
| December 20, 2006 | Val d'Isere, France
|
1st Downhill |
| January 14, 2007 |  Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria
|
2nd Super Combined |
| January 26, 2007 | San Sicario/Sestriere, Italy
|
2nd super G |
| January 28, 2007 | San Sicario/Sestriere, Italy
|
1st super G |
External links
- Lindsey Vonn's Personal Website
- Lindsey Vonn's U.S. Ski Team Biography
- Lindsey Kildow's FIS Biography and historical results
- Lindsey Vonn's U.S. Olympic Team Biography with photos, notes, wallpapers
- Lindsey Vonn's U.S. Ski Team video mini-profile
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