Lindsey Vonn Publishes Retirement Letter to Fans

On October 24th, 2018, Lindsey Vonn published a retirement letter to her fans on Sports Illustrated’s website. In it, she expands upon the reasoning behind her decision to leave the sport at the age of 34 and offers new insight as to how she is feeling as she looks forward to a life outside of ski racing.

Vonn also acknowledged that the way her retirement announcement came about wasn’t as she had originally planned, but the message had been something she’d considered for a long time. In the opening statement of her letter, she wrote:

“Announcing my retirement has been the most difficult reality I have ever faced. My intention wasn’t to announce it the way I did, but when asked the question about how much longer I would continue racing, the answer just poured out of me. At this point in my career I don’t think anyone is surprised by the decision, but saying it out loud and on the record made it real.”

She also took to her Instagram to spread the news.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

Retirement…. Link to my letter to you is in my bio: “… As the oldest Olympic medalist at 34 years old, I’ve come to realize that while I’ve accomplished great things with skiing, I need to look past podiums, goals, and competition and find out what my future looks like without it. I need to accept that I am good enough without skiing because, at this point, my health and my family need to come first. I want to be able to walk without pain, or to (hopefully) teach my own kids how to ski one day. I need to redefine my goals, who I am, and what direction I want my life to take….”

A post shared by L I N D S E Y • V O N N (@lindseyvonn) on Oct 24, 2018 at 8:50am PDT

You can find Vonn’s letter through the link in her Instagram bio (@lindseyvonn), or on Sports Illustrated’s website here.