The character arc of Lindsey Vonn
A life drawn by Character Arc from the public record
Born Lindsey Caroline Kildow on 18 October 1984 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Between then and now sit a grandfather who taught her to ski, skis at the age of two, a development programme at a small Minnesota hill, a father who had won a national junior title before a knee injury at eighteen and who pushed her hard, sixteen hour drives to Colorado in the back of a car, a mentor met in 1999, a family move to Vail, four World Cup overall titles, Olympic downhill gold in 2010, a record twenty crystal globes by 2016, seasons destroyed by injury, a retirement in 2019, a return in November 2024, and a World Cup downhill win at forty one. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Drag along the line to move, pinch or use the buttons to look closer. Tap the line to pluck it, or any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of her life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Lindsey Vonn?
She retired because her body had run out. Then she came back and won.
Her grandfather taught her to ski, in Wisconsin. She was on skis at two, and moved into a renowned development programme at a small hill in Burnsville, Minnesota, which is not where you would expect a downhill great to come from. Her father had won a national junior title himself before a knee injury at eighteen ended it, and the coach who ran the programme says he pushed her very hard.
The family drove. Sixteen hour trips from Minnesota to Colorado, her in the back under a sleeping bag while her mother drove and sang along to a tape. In 1999 she met an Olympic champion who watched her ski and said that the faster she went, the bigger the smile she got on her face, and that you cannot teach somebody to love the fall line like that. That woman became her mentor. In the late 1990s the family moved to Colorado so she could train there full time. She did her schooling online.
Then the career: four World Cup overall championships, in 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2012. Olympic downhill gold in 2010, the first an American woman had ever won. Eight World Cup season titles in downhill, five in super-G, three consecutive in combined. In 2016 she won her twentieth crystal globe, which is the overall record for men or women, passing a mark that had stood since 1984. She is one of only six women to have won World Cup races in all five disciplines.
And the other half. Injuries cost her parts of several seasons, most of 2013 and almost all of 2014. While she was recovering she worked as a news correspondent covering the Winter Olympics she could not compete in. In 2019 she announced her retirement and said the injuries were the reason. Her eighty two World Cup victories were a women's record, and it stood until January 2023, when Mikaela Shiffrin passed it.
In November 2024 she went back. She returned to competitive skiing and became the oldest woman ever to win a World Cup downhill, at forty one, taking her career total to eighty four races. Nobody in the sport had done that, and she had already had the career that would have justified stopping.
The moments
Lindsey Vonn's timeline.
The 1980s
Born in Saint Paul
Everyday. Minnesota, which has no mountains to speak of.
On skis at two
Milestone, and it changed everything. A grandfather, a small hill, and a two year old.
The 1990s
A father who pushed hard
Everyday, and it changed her direction. A career ended at eighteen, and a daughter on the hill.
Sixteen hours in the back of a car
Everyday. Sixteen hours each way, to get to a proper mountain.
A champion watches her ski
Milestone, and it changed everything. One person saw it in one run, and stayed.
The 2000s
The family moves to Colorado
Milestone, and it changed her direction. A whole family relocated around one child's sport.
A first overall title
Milestone, and it changed everything. The biggest prize in her sport, and then three more.
The 2010s
Olympic gold in the downhill
Milestone, and it changed everything. The first American woman ever to win it.
Injuries take two seasons
Setback, and it changed everything. Two winters, gone.
She reports on the Olympics
Milestone, and it changed her direction. At the Games she could not ski, holding a microphone.
A twentieth crystal globe
Milestone, and it changed everything. More of them than anybody, man or woman, has ever held.
She retires
Setback, and it changed everything. Not a decision about desire. A decision about a body.
The 2020s
The record is passed
Setback, and it changed her direction. The number she left behind, taken by somebody else.
Stay retired, or race again
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: go back, taken, or stay retired. She became the oldest woman ever to win a World Cup downhill, at forty one.
She comes back
Milestone, and it changed everything. Forty years old, and back on a start gate.
The oldest ever to win it
Milestone, and it changed everything. Forty one, and nobody older had ever won one.
She had won everything the sport has, retired, been passed on her own record, and then went back and won again at forty one. What she set moving is the argument that a line can have an ending written on it and carry on regardless, and that the second attempt counts exactly as much as the first.
Your turn
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Hers has a retirement in it, and then keeps going. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about five minutes.
Lindsey Vonn: frequently asked questions
What people ask about her line.
What is Lindsey Vonn's character arc?
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Who broke Lindsey Vonn's World Cup record?
Who taught Lindsey Vonn to ski?
Where does this timeline of Lindsey Vonn's life come from?
More character arcs
Lives that rhyme with her.
Sources
- Lindsey Vonn, English Wikipedia biography.
- Competition records for the four World Cup overall titles, the Olympic downhill gold in 2010, the twentieth crystal globe in 2016 and the World Cup downhill win at forty one.
- Her own account of the sixteen hour drives, and Picabo Street's account of watching her ski in 1999.
- Her public remarks about a head of state are in the record and are deliberately not drawn here.