American ski racing star Lindsey Vonn took a break from her busy World Cup tour schedule last night (Dec. 22) to fly into New York City for an appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman.

The Olympic gold medalist has started the 2012 racing season with remarkable success, winning five of the first six races she started. Most recently, she finished eighth in a slalom in Flachau, Austria on Tuesday.

Vonn made the quick trip back to the U.S. during a brief Holiday break in racing.

Letterman, in his usual witty form, took the opportunity with the most successful racer in U.S. history to bone up on his ski racing knowledge. “Here in the U.S. are we dumb about World Cup ski racing, do we not know what that means?” Letterman asked Vonn.

After Vonn explained to Letterman that the World Cup tour consists of more than 60 world-class women racers competing all winter, the host asked if all the athletes got along. “No,” said Vonn shaking her head as the audience laughed. “It’s women traveling around, competing against each other, it can get pretty catty.”

Vonn also taught the late night star about each of the racing disciplines she competes in, informing him that during many downhill races she reaches speeds of 90 mph. “You shouldn’t be going 90 miles and hour,” Letterman warned Vonn.

“When you have the super giant slalom, who cares about regular slalom, medium slalom and extra spicy slalom, what’s the deal there?” joked Letterman.

“I personally would rather just have downhill, but if there are more events, I’ll just compete in those as well,” said Vonn. 

Vonn now returns to Europe ahead of giant slalom and slalom races in Lienz, Austria Dec. 28-29. 

Image by Gepa