5 Things That Make Lindsey Vonn A Superstar

The face of American Alpine Ski Racing, Lindsey Vonn has been dubbed the most successful ski racer of all times in America. She's in the news not only because she can make formidable snow-covered slopes look like playgrounds but also because she was dating Tiger Woods. They called off their relationship this weekend. With Vonn in the headlines again, Binjal Shah takes a peek into what makes Lindsey Vonn more than just a sports star.  

1. She has more World Cup titles in Ski Racing than anyone in history, except for one. In her career up to March 2015, she has bagged 67 World Cup races- across Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, Slalom and Combined. Vonn became the first woman in three decades, to have destroyed the long-standing record of most titles held by Australian Ski-racer Annemarie Moser-Proll. And there is one record Lindsey also shares with the Australian- of having won 4 World Cup Championships. Today, the only woman to have excelled at this sport more than Lindsey on the planet- is Ingemar Stenmark, with 86 titles. She brought home a title that had been evading America all this while. She won the Gold Medal in Downhill at the 2010 Winter  Olympics, becoming the first ever American woman to have done so.

2. She pulled out of World Cup tournaments in 2013 due to a serious knee injury, that shattered all her American fans and well-wishers. But Vonn being Vonn, she made one of the most spectacular comebacks ever- at the Women’s World Cup downhill race, winning the event in only her second race since she was back.

3. She was crowned Sportswoman of the Year in 2010 by two highly esteemed organizations- the Laureus World Sports Awards, where she shared her pedestal with Tennis Great Rafael Nadal, and USOC. 

4. This legend who has loved the slopes since she was 5, set up a foundation for little girls who can't get enough of the adrenaline rush coming with every sport, just like she used to be. Known as "The Lindsey Vonn Foundation," committed to strengthening the community by creating an encouraging atmosphere for athletics, it gives individual attention to the empowerment of girls with its all-girl programs to make them realize their potential, and inculcate in them, self-esteem and confidence from early on.

5. Sports Illustrated, the bible of the sporting universe on and off the fields, is notorious for being a testosterone-centric publication. Only 4 percent of its cover stories have been female athletes since its inception. Guess who has been one of the "chosen ones"- none other than Lindsey Vonn, who has been featured twice. Once rocking a ski-suit beaming in her happy-place- the snow-covered mountains.  And the other- in an avatar that is the opposite of how the world is used to seeing her- in a stunning icy bikini. But she's back on the whites for this one too- perhaps a shout-out to the world that that is where she belongs!

Image Courtesy: Bergamonews.com