From Paris to Park City, Olympic Champion Lindsey Vonn is paving the way for future athletes. Kristen Kenney chats one-on-one with the ski racing superstar on her local impact ahead of the 2034 Salt Lake Games.
The Paris Olympics showcased the dominance of US Women with over half of the medals earned by the US women. What does Lindsey Vonn think about the growth of the women in the games?
It’s huge!” she tells Kenney with excitement. “We are seeing it at a global scale with just Simone, and you know, Katie Ledecky, and everyone in the Olympics, the WNBA, but what you don’t see is kids on the ground level who are looking up to those athletes who are looking to be something in their lives, and those women are paving the way for them to have even more success than what the women are having now.”
Vonn is one of those women who is paving the way for future generations. Turning her life challenges into teaching moments through her Lindsey Vonn Foundation “STRONGgirls” program, which aims to empower young girls. In fact, her program is now part of the curriculum at the Winter Sports School in Park City – a public charter school for elite winter athletes.
I try to inspire grit in them and help them overcome the adversities,” she tells Kenney.
“Her grit is really inspirational,” says fifteen-year-old Riley Eaton, a ski racer and student at the Winter Sports School.
“The biggest thing I have seen is a confidence boost,” Vonn tells Kenney. “That’s really my ultimate goal.”
This is the first school in the nation to integrate the Lindsey Vonn Foundation #STRONGgirls program, which is very fitting considering this is where Vonn launched her Olympic career. Does it feel a little more special?
“Yes, absolutely,” she says to Kenney. “Park City and Salt Lake City in 2002 were so impactful to me in my life. You know I moved out here for the Olympics when I was 17, actually 16, so to be able to give back to the community not just through my foundation but also helping bring the Olympics back in 2034, it all seems to be coming together in a really meaningful way.”
Where does Vonn see women in the games ten years from now in 2034 when they make their way back to Utah?
For me, the biggest thing is seeing kids from this community being Olympians in 2034. You know. I remember when we got the games for 2002, and that’s what inspired me. You know, I said this is where I want to start my Olympic career. So, I know there are kids from this community that will be there, and I hope we can support them as much as possible, and I just want women sports to grow, and women in general. I want to see women succeed.”