Queen of Speed ​​Vonn Retires at the End of the Season

(Reuters) – Lindsey Vonn, widely regarded as the greatest ski racer of all time, will retire from the competition after the 2018-19 season, even if she does not manage to break the Cup record of victories. of the World, announced Thursday the American.

The 33-year-old holds the women's record of 82 World Cup victories and edged only Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark with 86.

"It will be my last season. Decidedly retired after this year, "Vonn said in New York by moderating a panel on small businesses.

"If I could break the record, it would be great, if I could, it was a great race and I'm still the most successful woman and I still think it's something that you can really be proud.

"So we'll see what happens this year."

Vonn, who founded the Lindsey Vonn Foundation in 2015, focused on education, said she would focus on launching her own business when she would hang up her skis.

"My experiences on the tracks have helped me become what I am today," she said on Twitter.

"I am confident that these same lessons will bear fruit as I begin to explore the next steps of my career."

Since the first tear of his ACL in 2007, Vonn has suffered many injuries to knee ligaments and fractures. She missed the 2014 Games in Sochi due to a serious knee injury that she's been managing ever since.

The skier born in Minnesota had declared at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics that she would not give up before breaking the Stenmark record.

"I hope it is only a season. I will not leave my post until I get that record, no matter how painful I feel, "Vonn said in February.

"But I really hope it will only take one more season, because it would be difficult for me to continue after that."

Tiger Shaw, President and CEO of US Ski & Snowboard, said Vonn was a global sports icon.

"The news today that the upcoming season will be Lindsey's last must be celebrated," Shaw said.

"We are all fortunate to see an incredible athlete finish his brilliant alpine skiing career by writing a new record chapter. This is an appropriate way to pay homage to this chapter of Lindsey's life. "

Vonn, who became the oldest alpine skier to win an Olympic medal after winning a bronze medal in downhill in South Korea earlier this year, also expressed her desire to compete with her male counterparts.

Vonn, who began skiing at the age of three and running at age seven, earned her first Olympic medal when she won gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

The last season of Vonn will begin in Lake Louise in late November.