Lindsey Vonn: I won’t be representing US President at Winter Olympics
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LAKE LOUISE, CANADA - DECEMBER 06: (FRANCE OUT) Lindsey Vonn of the USA takes 1st place during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup Women's Super G on December 06, 2015 in Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Alain Grosclaude/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)
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A number of US athletes have spoken out against Donald Trump during his presidency – and skier Lindsey Vonn has become the latest to have her say.
Targeting Olympic gold at February’s Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, Vonn is in St. Moritz, Switzerland, where she spoke passionately about what it means to compete for the US ski team.
“Well I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president,” Vonn told CNN’s Alpine Edge.
The 33-year-old Vonn is getting ready for the final act of a long and illustrious career.
As well as competing for a second Olympic gold medal in South Korea, she is attempting to break the record of 86 World Cup victories held by Ingemar Stenmark since 1989.
Away from the slopes, Vonn also appears willing to put her head above the parapet and speak out about US politics.
“I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremony,” she added.
“I want to represent our country well. I don’t think that there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that.”
This year Trump has been embroiled in a controversy with the NFL and some of the NBA’s top players – a spat with significant racial and cultural undertones – after he blasted prominent athletes for kneeling during the national anthem and refusing to come to the White House.
And Vonn revealed she wouldn’t accept an invitation to the White House if she were to win gold at Pyeongchang.
“Absolutely not,” said Vonn. “No. But I have to win to be invited. No actually I think every US team member is invited so no I won’t go.
The world's greatest female ski racer Lindsey Vonn has officially retired from the sport after her final race at the World Championships in Are. Here's a look back at her glittering career.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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She made her Olympic debut at Salt Lake City 2002 as a 17-year-old, finishing 32nd in slalom and sixth in the combined slalom/downhill event.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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Lindsey Kildow -- as she was then before marrying fellow skier Thomas Vonn -- won her first World Cup race with victory in the downhill at Lake Louise, Canada, in 2004.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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In 2005, Vonn signed with Red Bull and began working with a completely new coaching team. She seemed set for the start of something special.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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Any momentum from the new deal was slowed during the 2006 Olympics in Italy, though. A fall in practice resulted in a short stay in hospital. She recovered in time to compete but could only manage seventh in the Super G and eighth in the downhill events.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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However, Vonn quickly bounced back and won the first of three straight World Cup titles in 2008 at the age of 23.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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Golden girl Vonn achieved her Olympic dreams in 2010. She won the Olympic downhill gold at Whistler and added bronze in the super-G.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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Vonn added a fourth World Cup title in 2012, but is still behind Annemarie Moser-Proell's record of six overall crystal globes.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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Vonn's public profile went galactic when she dated star golfer Tiger Woods for two years between 2013 and 2015.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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In 2013, Vonn suffered an horrific crash at the World Championships in Austria. She underwent reconstructive knee surgery and began a long road to recovery. She attempted to return a year later, only to pull out of the 2014 Olympics after aggravating the injury again.
Injuries continued to hamper Vonn. She fractured her left knee in February 2016 in a crash during a World Cup super-G race in Soldeu, Andorra, but raced the combined event the next day before calling an end to her season.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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Vonn worked hard to get back in time to challenge for gold medals at the 2018 Winter Olympics. The American left PyeongChang with a bronze medal in the downhill but insisted she was proud to have made it through her injuries.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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Vonn announced the current ski World Cup season would be her last. She is already the most successful woman in World Cup history with 82 victories and was chasing down Ingemar Stenmark's overall World Cup record of 86 victories in her sights.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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However, a knee injury from a training crash in November meant she couldn't start her season until January. On her debut in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, she was still struggling with knee pain.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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After much soul-searching Vonn announced that she will retire from skiing after competing in the World Championships in Are, Sweden in February 2019. "My body is screaming at me to STOP and it's time for me to listen," she said.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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In her opening race at the World Championships, Vonn suffered a heavy crash and careered into safety netting. She was eventually able to ski to the bottom and said she would still compete in the downhill to bring the curtain down on her glittering career.
Despite her damaged knees, Vonn was able to retire on a positive note. She battled back to win bronze in the downhill -- becoming the oldest woman to secure a medal at a world championships and the first female racer to medal at six world championships.
Photos: Skiing's speed queen
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The American retired four wins short of equaling Stenmark's record of 86 World Cup wins and the Swedish great (left) was in Are to watch Vonn's final race. "I basically begged him to come here," Vonn said.
She had been expected to add to her Lake Louise legend, but Lindsey Vonn crashed in the women’s World Cup downhill opener as Mikaela Shiffrin scored her first podium in the speed event Friday.
Vonn has battled with a number of serious injuries throughout her career, including a knee injury in 2013 that kept her out of the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
