Page 15 - Time Magazine, Sep. 17, 2018

Lindsey Vonn
First American woman to win Olympic
gold in downhill skiing
“My mom had a stroke when she gave
birth to me. I feel like all of my injuries
are nothing compared to what she’s had
to go through. She never complains. So
I just shut my mouth, and I keep work-
ing. I’ve never really thought about
quitting after my injuries, but when I
broke my arm and I lost all feeling and
function of my hand, that really scared
me—and I’ve never really been scared
about anything in my life before. Not
being able to brush my teeth or put my
hair tie on or hold a spoon to my mouth,
that was a pretty shocking experience.
It definitely made me question, Why am
I doing this? But like all the other times
before, the love of the sport is what
brought me back, and knowing that I
still have things that I want to accom-
plish to be able to say, O.K., I did the
best I could. Now it’s time to move on.
“At the end of the day, ski racing is
a crazy sport. We’re all going to crash
at some point. No matter what setback
you face, if you continue to work hard
and don’t give up, you can overcome
anything.”

PHOTOGRAPH BY KENDRICK BRINSON FOR TIME