03.01.2019

WE ARE: Lindsey Vonn

United We Win is Under Armour's year-round initiative celebrating the culture, heritage and diversity of athletes around the world. In honor of Women's History Month, and rooted in our belief that sports have the power to inspire, change and unite the world, we are proud to share stories from the women of Under Armour. 

For Lindsey Vonn, these words are more than just a platitude. They’re a life mantra for one of the most decorated – and possibly the most injury-prone – women’s skiers in history.

 

After consistent injuries threatened to end her career more than once, Vonn had a choice. She could wallow in moments of unfortunate timing and bad luck – or she could decide to let the setbacks act as a motivating force and source of strength.

 

For Vonn, there was only one path forward. And throughout it all, she has inspired a whole new generation of women athletes by showing them what’s possible when you believe in your ability to push past limits and dig deep.

 

It’s no surprise, then, that her favorite pastime off the mountain takes her deeper than most, trading skis and poles for fins and an air tank. The multi-Olympian feels almost as at home underwater as she does atop the Alpine slopes, although her scuba diving passion serves marine conservation rather than competition. In fact, you can catch her on Discovery Channel’s Shark Week, where she helps marine biologists tag a threatened species whitetip shark. She even boasts a tattoo of a shark on her left ring finger, inspired by the ocean creature’s commitment to move only forward, never backward.

 

And it’s that same animal instinct that continues to inspire Vonn, even in retirement. In a world where it’s easy to be complacent, her life on and off the slopes serves as the perfect metaphor for dynamism: oscillating from soul-crushing injury to the champion’s podium, from zen-like isolated training to unrelenting spotlight, and from the world’s highest peaks to the ocean’s depths. Maybe the calmness of the ocean is the perfect refuge from the intensity and speed of a life built on snow-capped mountains. Maybe skiing is just a watersport that happens to occur below 32°F. What’s consistent is Lindsey’s choice to use her activities to advocate for others – as a world-record holder in a male-dominated sport, through her activism in the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, or as a species conservationist in the ocean’s depths.

 

“If you fall, pick yourself right back up.”

Lindsey Vonn

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