Lindsey Vonn opened up about the real reason that led her to retire from competitive skiing six years ago. The American skier bid goodbye to the sport in 2019 after winning a bronze medal at the World Skiing Championships in Åre, Sweden.
Since then, many developments have taken place in Lindsey Vonn’s life, which include exploring multiple avenues as well as taking some time off from her busy schedule. She spoke about the real reason that led her to retire in 2019 in an interview with King 5 Settle. The American athlete shared that it was a time when her body couldn’t take the stress anymore.
Lindsey Vonn expressed that she took the ultimate decision due to the physical restrictions and bid goodbye to her illustrious skiing career.
“If I want to play tennis for two hours, I actually can’t. If I want to go hiking or biking or scuba diving or whatever I want to do, or race in the Olympics, my body is saying yes, and for the longest time, it said no. I retired because my body couldn’t take it anymore, not because I personally wanted to end my career,” she said. (4:02 onwards).
Vonn suffered from knee issues for a long time and finally decided to undergo a partial knee replacement surgery in April 2025, which gave her a solution for her long-standing pain. Speaking about returning to the slopes and making a professional comeback she said:
“So now, I am privileged and lucky to have the opportunity to say goodbye on my own terms.”
Lindsey Vonn on competing alongside some of the best skiers in her comeback season
Lindsey Vonn spoke about competing alongside some of the best skiers in an interview with NBC Sports. The American skier exuded confidence in her training and shared how she was excited to test herself after a long hiatus from competing.
Moreover, she expressed how it might take her some time to get adjusted to the new way of competing; however, she was confident about putting forward her best effort.
“I have no doubt that I can compete with them. You know I have trained with probably the top 10, top 20, and even the top 30 girls in the last few weeks. Some days I was winning training, some days I wasn’t. You know, I was testing a lot of equipment and I’m sure they were too. But I’m right here with them. You know, I may, it may take me a race or two, you know to get the rust off but I haven’t really missed anything,” she said.
Vonn hopes to compete at the Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo before bidding her final goodbye to the sport.
Edited by Adityan Pillai