This past week during the World Cup Finls at Are, Lindsey Vonn labored under the weight of the huge globe of Joska crystal—reflecting the crystal blue skies above the mystical Swedish mountain of Areskutan.
Soon there were five globes in front of her for photographers—a few borrowed for the occasion. But the titles weren't borrowed, they were hers—five of them in two years! Two overall, two downhill and one for super giant slalom.
It was another milestone for American ski racing, much like the scene in Furano when Tamara McKinney won in 1983 and when Picabo Street broke a decade-long drought standing proudly with the downhill globe in the town square of Bormio in 1995.
Vonn is 24 now, which means she wasn't even born in 1983.
But in 1995 she was an athletic young girl from Buck Hill in Minnesota looking for a hero.
Picabo's downhill World Cup globe rocked the American ski racing world. Two years earlier she had medaled in combined at the World Championships—the same event McKinney won in Vail to close out her career in 1989. A year earlier Street took silver in the Olympic downhill in Kvitfjell.
But this was a season long title!
Three years later, Picabo became an Olympic champion. But it was her 1995 crystal globe that lifted a nation and inspired a generation of ski racers—athletes like Lindsey Vonn.
Fiery Sun Valley native Picabo Street had that will to win.
Every time she stepped into the downhill start gate you had this sense that she could win. It was powerful. You could see her eyes intensely staring out of her goggles, focused on being the fastest.
In 1995 she and Hilary Lindh combined to win all but one downhill (Picabo was second by .02 in Cortina). Picabo, alone, won six and wrapped up the title in Lenzerheide, Switzerland a week before the Finals.
Street was all smiles parading into the town square that evening in Bormio. Fans from Valtellina packed the square as the American flag was raised for the first time since McKinney won the slalom title in 1984. It was an emotional time for the U.S. Ski Team which was ushering in an era of success on the wins of Street, Tommy Moe and Diann Roffe.
Fast forward 14 years—through Topolino and JO titles, thousands of hours of work every year, and the support of legions of family, friends and fans.
It was Lindsey Vonn's turn (again). Gone from her mind in that moment were the bitterly disheartening fourth-place finishes at Worlds in 2005 and the training crash in Torino where she first won the hearts of Americans. Those were learning experiences that made her strong.
Today, she was a champion - standing on the podium, her hand on her heart, and beaming her trademark smile to the crowd as the national anthem played. Like Picabo, she, too, has the will to win.
Somewhere in America there's another young boy who was up early this week to watch her win the super G title on UniversalSports.com and a young girl longing to meet her at an autograph session next fall. And there are thousands of aspiring champions putting poster of the World Cup champ up on their bedroom walls—just like Lindsey did.
At Tyson Junior Olympic races around the USA this month, there's a bigger bounce in the steps of young athletes as they walk in the footsteps of their U.S. Ski Team hero.
There are plenty of Lindsey Vonn stats to fill an entire page. Those have all been well reported. And her work ethic and goal setting are already legendary.
But the real statistic isn't the number of wins or number of globes she wins. It's the inspiration she conveys to boys and girls across America who now have a hero and are saying to themselves, "Hey, I can do that, too."
As she left the Audi FIS World Cup finish line for the final time this year she paused—globes in tow—to sign autographs for young Swedish fans. "Hey, Lindsey, did you see that little girl's face? Don't ever lose that," said Press Officer Doug Haney. She replied, "Don't worry, it's the most important thing I do!"
Summary of World Cup champions
Norwegian Aksel Lund Svindal, 26, joined Lindsey Vonn as the 2008-09 World Cup overall champions Saturday at Are, Sweden.
Super giant slalom king Svindal (1009 points) nipped Austria's Benjamin Raich (1007) by the narrowest of margins, two points. It was very much like Svindal's 13-point victory over Raich in 2007.
Here are top overall placings and U.S. points for 2008-09:
Women's overall: 1—Lindsey Vonn (U.S.) 1788. 2—Maria Riesch (Germany) 1424. 3—Anja Paerson (Swe.) 1059. Other U.S. skiers were:
27—Julia Mancuso 285. 72—Hailey Duke 56. 84—Chelsea Marshall 35. 86—Megan McJames 31. 92—Sarah Schleper 26. 105—Stacey Cook 12. 107—Keely Kelleher 11. 123—Kaylin Richardson 3.
Men's overall: 1—Aksel Lund Svindal (Nor.) 1009. 2—Benjamin Raich (Aust.) 1007. 3—Didier Cuche (Switz.) 919. Other U.S. skiers were:
9—Ted Ligety 598. 15—Bode Miller 517. 30—Marco Sullivan 293. 62—T.J. Lanning 95. 70—Tim Jitloff 79. 73—Steven Nyman 75. 75—Erik Fisher 74. 90—Scott Macartney 43. 92—Andrew Weibrecht 40. 97—Jimmy Cochran 30. 103—Jake Zamansky 27. 126—Cody Marshall 10.
Women's downhill: 1—Lindsey Vonn (U.S.) 502. 2—Andrea Fischbacher (Aust.) 326. 3—Maria Riesch (Germ.) 292. Other U.S. skiers:
24—Julia Mancuso 74. 39—Chelsea Marshall 19. 41—Leanne Smith 9. 43—Stacey Cook 6.
Men's downhill: 1—Michael Walchhofer (Aust.) 470. 2—Klaus Kroell (Aust.) 424. 3—Didier Defago (Switz.) 363. U.S. skiers were:
7—Bode Miller 275. 15—Marco Sullivan 179. 25—T.J. Lanning 75. 27—Steven Nyman 69. 29—Erik Fisher 63. 36—Scott Macartney 36. 42—Andrew Weibrecht 13.
Women's super giant slalom: 1—Lindsey Vonn (U.S.) 461. 2—Nadia Fanchini (Italy) 416. 3—Fabienne Suter (Switz.) 408.
27—Julia Mancuso 55. 46—Chelsea Marshall 10. 47—Keely Kelleher 9.
Men's super giant slalom: 1—Aksel Lund Svindal (Nor.) 292. 2—Werner Heel (Italy) 256. 3—Didier Defago (Switz.) 242. U.S. skiers:
17—Marco Sullivan 114. 21—Ted Ligety 58. 27—Bode Miller 42. 30—Andrew Weibrecht 24. 33—T.J. Lanning 20. 42—Erik Fisher 11. 44—Scott Macartney 7. 46—Steven Nyman 6.
Women's super combined: 1—Anja Paerson (Swe.) 205. 2—Lindsey Vonn (U.S.) 180. 3—Kathrin Zettel (Aust.) 162. Other U.S. skiers:
36—Julia Mancuso 12. 41—Leanne Smith 7. 42—Chelsea Marshall 6. 42—Stacey Cook 6. 46—Kaylin Richardson 3.
Men's super combined: 1—Carlo Janka (Switz.) 242. 2—Silvan Zurbriggen (Switz.) 231. 3—Romed Baumann (Aust.) 169. U.S. skiers:
44—Ted Ligety 6. 48—Andrew Weibrecht 3.
Women's giant slalom: 1—Tanja Poutiainen (Fin.) 508. 2—Kathrin Zettel (Aust.) 501. 3—Tina Maze (Slov.) 368. U.S. skiers:
8—Lindsey Vonn 205. 17—Julia Mancuso 124. 35—Megan McJames 31. 41—Sarah Schleper 20.
Men's giant slalom: 1—Didier Cuche (Switz.) 474. 2—Benjamin Raich (Aust.) 462. 3—Ted Ligety (U.S.) 421. Other U.S. skiers:
28—Tim Jitloff 63. 35—Bode Miller 33. 36—Jake Zamansky 27.
Women's slalom: 1—Maria Riesch (Germ.) 670. 2—Sarka Zahrobska (Czech) 459. 3—Lindsey Vonn (U.S.) 440. Other U.S. skiers:
27—Hailey Duke 56. 42—Julia Mancuso 20.
Men's slalom: 1—Jean-Baptiste Grange (Fra.) 541. 2—Ivica Kostelic (Croatia) 454. 3—Julien Lizeroux (Fra.) 419. Other U.S. skiers:
16—Bode Miller 167. 22—Ted Ligety 113. 37—Jimmy Cochran 30. 49—Tim Jitloff 16. 57—Cody Marshall 10.
One World Cup globe is special, but Minnesota native Lindsey Vonn, 24, now has five of them, as she poses with the number of her career World Cup globes during the World Cup Finals last week at Are, Sweden. Courtesy photo by Getty Images/AFP-Fabrice Coffrini
