Career at a glance
1984: Born Oct. 18 in Minnesota, as Lindsey Kildow.
1996: Moves with family to Vail, Colo., to advance her skiing career. 1999: At age 14, becomes first American female to win the slalom at the Trofeo Topolino, a prestigious international junior competition in Italy.
2002: Makes U.S. team for Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, racing in slalom and Alpine combined. Achieves sixth place in combined. 2003: Wins silver medal in downhill at junior world championships. 2004: Reaches a World Cup podium for first time with third place in downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, in January. First World Cup win comes in downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta, in December.
2006: Makes U.S. team for Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. Crashes in second training run for downhill and airlifted to hospital but returns two days later to place eighth.
2007: Wins silver medals in downhill and super-G at world championships in Are, Sweden. Marries Thomas Vonn, a fellow skier who became her coach, and takes his name.
2008: Wins overall World Cup title, the second American woman to do so after Tamara McKinney. Breaks U.S. record for most World Cup downhill wins (10).
2009: Wins gold medals in super-G and downhill at world championships in Val d’Isere, France. Retains overall World Cup title.
2010: Wins gold medal in downhill at Winter Olympics in Vancouver, British Columbia, and then bronze in super-G. Won a third consecutive overall World Cup title.
2011: Wins silver medal in downhill at world championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. Announces that she will be getting divorced.
2012: Becomes overall World Cup champion for fourth time. Reaches 50 World Cup wins.
2013: Tears two ligaments in knee during super-G crash at world championships in January. After setbacks in recovery, says she won’t compete at 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Starts dating Tiger Woods — their relationship lasts two years.
2015: With her 63rd victory, breaks record for most World Cup wins for a female skier. Wins World Cup titles in downhill and super-G, and bronze medal in super-G at world championships in Beaver Creek, Colo. 2016: Suffers hairline fracture of left knee in super-G crash in Andorra in March and then breaks arm in training crash in Colorado in November. 2017: Wins bronze in downhill at world championships in St. Moritz, Switzerland, becoming oldest woman to medal in that event. 2018: Wins bronze in downhill at Winter Olympics in Sochi and dedicates medal to her late grandfather. Says in October that she will retire at end of 2018-19 season. After injuring knee in training, says she will be retiring after races at Lake Louise, Alberta, in December 2019. 2019: Announces that she will retire after world championships in Are, Sweden. Wins bronze medal in her final race — the downhill.