Olympic Gold Medalist Lindsey Vonn Shares Iconic Moment With Her Childhood Idol

Published 08/20/2023, 12:39 PM EDT

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Heroic trailblazer Lindsey Vonn reunited with her alpine skiing role model during an initiative. During her professional career, her name showed up among the handful of skiers who took part in every competition. She mastered the downhill super-G, giant slalom, slalom, and super-combined and retired after winning 82 World Cup races in her career(surpassed by Mikaela Shiffrin this January).

All sports enthusiast aspires to be like their favorite athlete growing up and Vonn is the same. Her fangirling not only paved the road for her to win an incredible number of titles and medals, but also helped her rise to the top. Post-retirement, Vonn branched off her skills and participated more in her noble work, which recently brought back some old memories.

Lindsey Vonn meets up with decorated Olympian

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After the 2019–2020 season, Vonn formally announced her retirement from competitive skiing and focused on other horizons. One such notable gift to humanity from her is the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, which she actively engages with. While on her journey to raise money for her foundation, she met her United States Ski Team member and the great skier Picabo Street. Vonn took it to her Instagram and posted a story of the two dressed-up cowgirls with the caption, “legendary ski team alumni together” with hand heart and double pink heart emojis.

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Lindsey also added an emphasized special note that read, “Picabo + Lindsey.” The names in the caption previously appeared at the top of the victory lists and in the alpine skiing win records. Well, it was only at 9 when Vonn discovered her Olympic idol. Fast forward to 2015, when she founded the Lindsey Vonn Foundation and began inspiring other young girls. Since then, the non-profit organization is committed to empowering underprivileged girls through scholarships, camps, and life-changing experiences.

via Imago

Walking down memory lane, the Olympians have shared a lot of memories in the past. When Street took home a gold medal in the 1998 Winter Olympics, little did she know stepping up behind her was the new face of the sport. Street was the first American woman to win consecutive World Cup downhill season titles in 1995 and 1996, serving as a major source of inspiration for Vonn throughout her career and many others. However, the two greatest alpine skiers didn’t initially meet in the whitest snow, so where did they meet?

Lindsey Vonn’s fangirling moment

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As a little girl aged 9 in her native Minnesota, Vonn, then known as Lindsey Kildow spent three hours in line at a ski store to meet her favorite skier. That favorite one was Picabo Street, 1994 Lillehammer Olympic silver medalist. Street dominated the 1990s with her prowess, suffered a tragic ACL injury, and took a recovery break before returning in 2000. At the 2002 Winter Olympics 2002, Vonn made her debut and competed together with Street. Street finished sixteen in downhill while Vonn finished sixth in combine.

 

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At the age of 30, Street retired after the Games in 2002. While Vonn received guidance and encouragement from her throughout her career. Street was also inducted into the prestigious National Ski Hall of Fame in 2004. Just last year, a blissful moment happened in her documentary “Picabo,” which was directed by Vonn, and explores her colleague Picabo Street’s rise to prominence.

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Written by:

Divya Purohit

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Divya Purohit is a sports writer at EssentiallySports specializing her coverage in American sporting events. She recently found US Sports writing to be a niche that she enjoys and began following sports. Divya enjoys researching and creating various pieces of articles.
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