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Lindsey Vonn made a comeback at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics after six years of retirement. Despite tearing her ACL a week before the race, she chose to compete but crashed shortly after starting.
(Courtesy of: Gilbert Flores/Variety)
Lindsey Vonn has learned to drown out the noise and trust herself.
After six years in retirement, the pro alpine ski racer made a comeback at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. But just a week before her race, the 41-year-old tore her ACL in practice. Making the decision to compete, she crashed just 13 seconds into her race as the world watched.
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The athlete has learned some of the hardest lessons in grit and perseverance. She is now telling her story in her own words.
âI donât whimsically make decisions. Grit and perseverance have to be coupled with hard work and making smart choices,â Vonn tells Flow Space. âIâm never going to make anyone happy, and I definitely have learned that.â
She adds, âPerseverance is the essence of me.â
Vonn has since been on her recovery journey, which includes hours of physical therapy and rehabilitation. She is also using her platform to raise awareness about the importance of lifestyle factors in supporting our overall well-being.
Vonn most recently announced a collaboration with Invivyd, an antibody-based medical company. She is helping raise awareness for the companyâs âAntibodies for Any Body movement,â a campaign to bring attention to how antibodies are an important lever in our immune system to fight off disease and keep us strong. The campaign lets you take a test to see how lifestyle factors influence your bodyâs antibody response.
In an interview with Flow Space, Vonn talks about the campaign, her new definition of resilience, and a message for those who may misunderstand her.
Flow Space: I want to talk about your perspective on resilience today. How do you feel the definition of resilience has really changed for you from your first Olympics to now?
Lindsey Vonn tore her ACL just a week before competing at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Lindsey Vonn crashed just 13 seconds into her race at the Winter Olympics.
Lindsey Vonn expressed that she often feels misunderstood and has learned to trust herself and drown out the noise.
Lindsey Vonn was retired for six years before making her comeback at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.

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Vonn: I think resilience can take a lot of shapes and forms. For me, over the course of my life, Iâve dealt with a lot of different adversities, both personally and professionally. I think Iâve been able to persevere despite all those things, mainly because Iâm so passionate about what I do.
I have always loved ski racing, and itâs driven me to work incredibly hard, and to chase my dreams, and to continue to try to improve and ski faster. But you know, perseverance is the essence of me, like grit and being able to fight through things and never giving up. Thatâs just who I am. Itâs really ingrained in me, and I have my family to thank for the example that they set for me
What do you think people misunderstand about grit or perseverance, especially given your crash and what youâve been through this last year?
Vonn: Grit doesnât mean that you just blindly work towards something, no matter the circumstance. You still need to be smart and conscious about what youâre doing. I donât blindly ski down the mountain at 85 miles an hour. Iâm prepared. Iâve done the work even at the Olympics with no ACL. I was doing 12 hours of rehab a day leading up to the Olympics to make sure my body was ready to compete. I donât whimsically make decisions. Grit and perseverance have to be coupled with hard work and smart choices, and I think all of those things have to go together to make wise choices.
Itâs clear youâve been able to cultivate this sense, trusting your own intuition. How did you get there?
Vonn: Taking care of my body is my job. Thatâs what Iâve been doing my entire life. I turned professional at 16 years old. And as an athlete, I was faced with so many different physical ailments, from muscle soreness, back strains, muscle tears, broken ankles, to my bigger crashes and all of those things. You have to be in tune with your body to continue performing at a high level. It takes a lot of diligence and hard work, and also having smart people around you to be able to come back from those things. My body is my job.
Why did you decide now was the time to use your platform to partner with Invivydâs âAntibodies for Any Bodyâ movement?
Iâve been excited to work with Invivyd and educate people about what antibodies do for your immune system and how they help fend off germs and toxins. Even as an athlete, getting the right information is hard. Itâs not always straightforward; itâs not always clear. Antibodiesforanybody.com is where you can go to get easy information about antibodies, your immune system, and health, and itâs very digestible. Itâs not overwhelming, and I think having more knowledge about your body and how it works empowers you to lead a healthier life.
Why specifically was this campaign pertinent to you?
Iâm taking care of myself and my body. Itâs what Iâve always done. I think having my mom, having ALS, having family members that have struggled with health, and obviously with my injuries, I think sometimes we take our health for granted.
I donât ever get behind something that I donât believe in. We face enough adversities in life without having to deal with extra things. Thatâs why Iâm passionate about it.
Even with this injury, being independent is something that I really need, and Iâve been very dependent during the last two months ⊠just being able to walk on my own and make my own breakfast and go to the bathroom on my own.
Those are things that we think are given, but theyâre not. And so I just donât want people to take that for granted, and I want to share as much information as possible.
Everyone has their own obstacles in life, and I donât know if anyone leads a non-stressful lifestyle.
What are you most excited about for the next chapter in your life that you feel like youâre, perhaps, not asked about as much?
I always like to push the limits of whatever Iâm doing. I honestly donât know where my life is going to take me in three years. Life could look a lot different. And I donât really have any goals set out for myself, necessarily, because I want to keep all options open. I donât know where things will go, and I think thatâs the fun of it.
Thatâs the great part of life, that things will happen to you that you donât expect, and most of the time itâs for the better. Sometimes it seems like itâs for the worse, like, for example, currently. But who knows? Maybe this is going to lead me down a path thatâs more fulfilling in the end.
Finding joy and purpose is something that is driving me.
What does cultivating joy look like for you?
I do things that Iâm passionate about, that are exciting to me. My foundation, obviously, is something that has driven me for the last 10 years. Adventure. Travel. Sports. Meeting people. There are so many experiences that Iâm looking forward to. When I retired the first time, I was retired for six years, and life was amazing, and it went in so many different directions that I never thought I would ever go in.
So if the last six years have indicated anything, I just have to buckle up and get ready for the
ride ahead.
So whatâs on the travel bucket list? Is there an adventure that is top of mind?
Oh, yeah, going to the Maldives. Oh, Iâm booked. I really hope Iâll be able to get in the water by that point. I better be able to, because I have made plans.
The mindset that you carry is powerful. A lot of people might struggle to maintain that kind of outlook, to manage uncertainty with this level of hope and optimism. Were you always like this?
I mean, itâs not always easy. Iâm generally a positive person, but I have really bad days, just like everybody else, and Iâve had a lot of bad days in the last two months. Iâve had a lot of tears that were shed, and a lot of support from my family thatâs really helped me in those times. But generally speaking, I get my outlook from my mother. She was such a positive person, no matter what happened in her life. She had a stroke when she had me, and she really lost her balance and coordination, but she would try to ride the bike, and she would fall and fall and fall, and she would always keep getting back up and always with a smile on her face.
I have the distinct benefit of being able to come back from the injuries that I face, because I work hard, because I have a good support system of doctors and therapists. My mom didnât have that opportunity.
So I always feel like itâs a matter of perspective. No matter how bad life is, it could always be worse.
For people who might look to you for advice, who might be stuck in this rumination spiral after setbacks, what advice do you have for them?
No matter how negative things are or how down you get about something, or how uncertain you are about something, thereâs always something that you can draw upon, however small, that is positive. If youâre unsure about work, think about the things that you do know how to do, that you are good at, that you can contribute to another job or to a different direction in life. When we face adversity, we learn, and we get stronger. And as much as it is painful and hard, we always manage to find a way through it somehow.
Maybe whatever is hurting you now may be a benefit later, but try to always keep that mindset. Itâs really easy to spiral downwards and think that everythingâs negative and that things are crumbling, but it could all be for a reason and can lead you into an amazing place if you just keep your head up and your eyes open.
Thereâs a lot of noise out there, especially with you being in the spotlight. There have been peopleâs opinions on what you should or shouldnât have done. How did you drown out some of that noise to really come back to your intuition?
Thatâs really hard for me. Generally speaking, Iâm often misunderstood.
Iâm always driven by what brings me joy, what I love doing. I love ski racing. I had the incredibly unexpected opportunity to make a comeback and to be number one in the world again; that was incredible, and Iâm so thankful for that. But I think people donât really understand. They donât understand what drives me, or they canât comprehend that I actually love what I do.
They always have thoughts and very distinct opinions about me, and itâs hard not to want to explain myself to everyone on the internet. But Iâm never going to make anyone happy, and I definitely have learned that.
The only thing I can do is focus on myself and make decisions that are right for me. My intention is to lead a happy and fulfilling life, and whatever I choose to do is something I enjoy. Thatâs all there is to it. Iâm not someone who has hidden motives or scheming plans. Iâm really straightforward. Iâm really open about who I am and what I stand for and whatâs meaningful to me. If people just listened to what I have to say, I think they would understand me a little bit better.