The great American ski racer Lindsey Vonn has announced that she will retire from ski racing after the World Championships in Åre, Sweden.
In a statement on her social media channels (which you can read below), Vonn said: “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.”
She had originally planned to retire early next season, but injury troubles have led her to make the decision to retire next week, with what she refers to as a body “broken beyond repair”.
Vonn has been a steadfast figure on the racing calendar since her World Cup debut in 2000, when she was just 16 years old. Since then, she has broken record after record, with 82 World Cup wins, 20 World Cup titles, 3 Olympic medals and 7 World Championship medals. The most successful American ski racer, she is widely regarded as one of the best ski racers ever.
However, with the highs have come lows, and Vonn has experienced a number of injuries throughout her career. In her statement today, she said: “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. “
The World Championships in Åre take place from the 4-17th February, the GS is scheduled for Tuesday 5th, with the Downhill scheduled for Sunday 10th.