Lindsey Vonn Ends Her Illustrious Skiing Career With Another Medal

Lindsey Vonn is arguably the most popular female skiing champion in the world today and her popularity is well founded. She holds the record for winning more medals in history than any other female skier in the game and she is also an Olympic Gold Medalist.

Lindsey is immensely popular not only because of her skiing accomplishments but also because she is very beautiful and uses social media to motivate her fan base all over the world. She has more than 1.7 million followers on Instagram and uses her platform to keep her fans informed of what is going on in her life.

Her fans were aware that she had decided to call time on her career and the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships in Sweden was going to be her final farewell.

The 34 year old was in jeopardy of her World Championships cut short after she had a crash during the super-G race yesterday. However, being the champion that she is, she recovered and was determined to finish her career on a high note and that she did.

euronews (in English)

Vonn complete the final race of her career and finished in third place to win a bronze medal and prove to the world yet again that she is still at the top of her game and it is only injuries that has forced her to call time on her career. Vonn admitted that she was nervous during the final race of her career as she really wanted to do well and win.

The win at the World Championships gives her the distinction of being the only female skier to participate in six World Championships and win medals at all of them.

Injuries Bring About Early Retirement

If it was up to her, she would continue to keep skiing as she believes that she has more left in her. However, her body will not allow her to keep going and that is primarily because she has suffered some nasty injuries throughout her career which has made it very difficult for her to keep competing at the highest level.

In her Instagram post announcing her retirement, Vonn said

My body is broken beyond repair and it isn’t letting me have the final season I dreamed of. My body is screaming at me to STOP and it’s time for me to listen.

View this post on Instagram

It’s been an emotional 2 weeks making the hardest decision of my life, but I have accepted that I cannot continue ski racing. I will compete at the World Championships in Downhill and SG next week in Åre, Sweden and they will be the final races of my career. I have always pushed the limits of ski racing and it has allowed me to have amazing success but also dramatic crashes. I have never wanted the storyline of my career to be about injuries and because of that I decided not to tell anyone that I underwent surgery this past spring. A large portion of cartilage that had delaminated from my bone was removed. My crash in Lake Louise last year was much more painful than I let on, but I continued to race because I wanted to win a medal in the Olympics for my late grandfather. Again, I rehabbed my way back this summer and I felt better than I had in a long time. Then I crashed in Copper this November and injured my left knee, tearing my LCL plus sustaining 3 fractures. Despite extensive therapy, training and a knee brace, I am not able make the turns necessary to compete the way I know I can. My body is broken beyond repair and it isn't letting me have the final season I dreamed of. My body is screaming at me to STOP and it’s time for me to listen. Honestly, retiring isn’t what upsets me. Retiring without reaching my goal is what will stay with me forever. However, I can look back at 82 World Cup wins, 20 World Cup titles, 3 Olympic medals, 7 World Championship medals and say that I have accomplished something that no other woman in HISTORY has ever done, and that is something that I will be proud of FOREVER! I always say, “Never give up!” So to all the the kids out there, to my fans who have sent me messages of encouragement to keep going… I need to tell you that I’m not giving up! I’m just starting a new chapter. Don’t lose faith in your dreams, keep fighting for what you love, and if you always give everything you have you’ll be happy no matter what the outcome. Thank you for the amazing years, for always supporting me, and for making my job so fun. Can’t wait to see some of you in the finish in Åre where I will give it my all one last time. Love always, Lindsey

A post shared by L I N D S E Y • V O N N (@lindseyvonn) on Feb 1, 2019 at 7:22am PST