Vonn’s thinking switches to career off piste
ARE, Sweden: With just one race left in her career, American Lindsey Vonn is aiming to swap alpine skiing for success in the boardroom when she retires from the sport after Monday’s downhill competition at the World Championships in Sweden.
Vonn (34) sustained a black eye when crashing out of the Super G yesterday, but she said she was looking forward to one last race and one big party to bring to an end almost two decades in the sport.
After battling knee injuries throughout her career, she announced last week that she was calling it a day. Vonn has racked up 82 World Cup victories in a glittering career and won the United States’ first Olympic downhill gold for women.
‘‘There’s a lot to look forward to. I’m going to approach business in the same way I approach skiing, just work as hard as I can and stay diligent about it,’’ she told reporters yesterday.
She will continue her relationships with her sponsors and is branching out into movies as an executive producer. She also hinted at a new secret project that is in the works.
‘‘I hope that one day they’ll say, ‘Oh, she was a skier a long time ago, but now she’s a successful businesswoman’. Next goal, take over the world, one step at a time,’’ she said.
Though Vonn said she had had a turbulent time of it emotionally since realising recently that the end of her career was in sight, she chided reporters for not laughing enough at her jokes as she tried to keep the mood light while outlining her future.
‘‘I’m a driven person. I’m not going to be sitting on the couch twiddling my thumbs; that would be boring. I need to do something that activates my mind. I can’t activate my body the way I used to, but it’s all about pushing yourself,’’ she said. — Reuters