Lindsey Vonn Discusses Comeback and Olympic Crash on PRETTY TOUGH
Maria Sharapova, five-time Grand Slam champion, hosts the Vox Media podcast PRETTY TOUGH.
Maria Sharapova, the five-time Grand Slam champion, entrepreneur, and bestselling author who hosts the Vox Media podcast PRETTY TOUGH, spoke with Olympic champion ski racer Lindsey Vonn on this week's episode about Vonn's retirement and comeback, pushing her limits after her knee replacement, and how training changed in her 40s. The two also discussed Vonn's decision to race with a torn ACL at the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, dealing with the intense public response to the crash, why she would consider making another comeback to competitive skiing, and what a 'perfect' career ending would look like in her eyes.
Episode Highlights
[3:25] – Lindsey shares the impossible expectations around her comeback
Vonn: 'On the one hand, everyone was kind of tearing me down because I'm 'too old' and I'm not going to do anything. But on the other hand, they expect me to do everything. And if I don't do everything, then I'm a disappointment. So, I felt like in some ways it was a lose-lose from the outside. But for me, it was a win-win because I knew I was going to exceed everyone's expectations anyway, because I have obviously high expectations of myself.'
[16:02] – Lindsey on facing skeptics when she came back out of retirement
Vonn: 'Brady, Lewis, there's so many athletes on the men's side that continue to push the limit and continue to compete at an older age and at the highest level. But for some reason, for women, it's not okay. I think we have these social norms that we're so glued to. You have to start a family by a certain time or life is supposed to work in this certain timeline… I just feel like we should have the opportunity to say, okay, now is the time. I'm ready. Doesn't matter how old we are. This is what I want to do.'
[24:24] – Lindsey on persevering with hope despite her traumatic crash
Vonn: 'Yes, it was a horrible situation, but I wanted to take the risk. And I was 100% aware of what could happen. As a ski racer, we're all aware of what can happen. But I didn't want anyone to feel bad for me. I didn't want anyone to cry. I wanted them to say, 'I'm going to try too, even if I don't get the outcome that I hope for.' So that was really what I wanted to get across. I'm like, 'Don't cry for me. Let's just have hope.''
[30:30] – Lindsey shares her fearless approach to competing
Vonn: 'I'm not going to get in the starting gate unless I know what I'm doing and that my body can handle it. And I knew that I could handle it and that's why I was there and that's why I wasn't afraid.'
[31:08] – Lindsey on pushing her limits after knee surgery
Vonn: 'I think the limit that I pushed was actually more so getting a knee replacement and coming back to ski racing as a general concept, because I don't know of any athlete that's in a professional sport or Olympic sport that's had a replacement and been competitive. But again, I know my limits physically and what I feel like I can do. And I would never have set down that path if I didn't feel I could do it.'
[37:44] – Lindsey opens up about dealing with intense social media backlash after her crash
Vonn: 'The negativity was extreme and I haven't quite gotten rid of that. So it's hard for me sometimes to see the positives in it, although I know there are many. And I've gotten a lot of amazing feedback from a lot of people. But I think for me, it was so overwhelmingly negative online that it was hard for me to gauge what was real and what was not.'
About Pretty Tough with Maria Sharapova
Five-time Grand Slam champion, entrepreneur, and bestselling author Maria Sharapova brings her trademark intensity and drive to a weekly podcast that challenges how female ambition is defined and discussed. In each episode of Pretty Tough, Sharapova sits down with high-achieving women across industries for candid, wide-ranging conversations about their pursuit of excellence without apology. Inspired by Sharapova's own journey as a world-class athlete and entrepreneur, the show serves as a space where discussions about peak performance, career strategy, wellness, and leadership aren't diluted by gender-specific expectations and where being gritty and being female aren't seen as contradictory states of being. New episodes drop Wednesdays. Part of the Vox Media Podcast Network.
