Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Caroline Vonn (née Kildow ; born October 18, 1984) is an American alpine ski racer. She won four World Cup overall championships with titles in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2012. Vonn won the gold medal in downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics, the first one for an American woman. She also won a record eight World Cup season titles in the downhill discipline (2008–2013, 2015, 2016), five titles in super-G (2009–2012, 2015), and three consecutive titles in the combined (2010–2012). In 2016, she won her 20th World Cup crystal globe title, the overall record for men or women, surpassing Ingemar Stenmark of Sweden, who won 19 globes from 1975 to 1984. She has the third highest super ranking of all skiers, men or women. Vonn is one of six women to have won World Cup races in all five disciplines of alpine skiing – downhill, super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and super combined – and (as of January 22, 2026) has won 84 World Cup races in her career. When she retired in 2019, her total of 82 World Cup victories was a women's record that stood until January 2023, when it was surpassed by Mikaela Shiffrin. Only Shiffrin and Stenmark have more victories than Vonn, with the record held by Shiffrin. With her Olympic gold and bronze medals, two World Championship gold medals in 2009 (plus three silver medals in 2007 and 2011), and four overall World Cup titles, Vonn is one of the most successful American ski racers, and is considered one of greatest alpine skiers of all time. In 2011, Vonn received the Laureus World Sportswoman of the Year award, and was the United States Olympic Committee's sportswoman of the year. Injuries caused Vonn to miss parts of several seasons, including almost all of the 2014 season and most of the 2013 season. While recovering from injury, she worked as a correspondent for NBC News, covering the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia. In 2019, she announced her retirement, citing her injuries. Vonn returned to competitive skiing in November 2024, and became the oldest downhill skiing World Cup winner at the age of 41.