At the tender age of 20, Ski Club Vail alum Lindsey Vonn was devastated after falling short of expectations in the 2005 world alpine championships in Bormio, Italy. A legitimate medal contender for the first time at a major event, Vonn had to settle for a pair of fourth-place finishes.
When Vonn leaves Bormio today at the conclusion of the World Cup finals, she will do so at the top of the ski world. Vonn became the second American woman to win the World Cup overall title Friday.
Vonn couldn’t help thinking about what happened in Bormio three years ago when she returned last week on the verge of making U.S. ski racing history.
“That was a pretty disappointing time for me,” Vonn recalled Friday, struck by the contrast. “I remember how sad I was. Now I’m back here in a totally different position. I think I’ve come a long way since those world championships. It’s been a really good journey. I’m happy for everything that happened, because it’s made me who I am.”
And when she wrapped up the overall with an 11th-place finish in Friday’s slalom — her best slalom result of the season — the enormity of the accomplishment was hard for her to grasp.
“It’s just weird,” Vonn said. “It doesn’t seem like it’s happening to me. I’ve always been the one who admired everyone and wanted to be like everyone else. Now I’m that person. It’s a really weird feeling.”
It has been 25 years since Tamara McKinney became the first American woman to win the crystal globe that goes to the World Cup champion, the most coveted title in skiing. Vonn also claimed the World Cup downhill title, passing her idol Picabo Street for downhill wins in the process.
“I’ve surpassed my idols,” Vonn said. “Now, hopefully, I’m someone that kids can look up to, as I looked up to Picabo. It’s cool, but it’s strange at the same time to be in that position — especially since I’m only 23.”
Bode Miller won the men’s overall — his second in four seasons — and Ted Ligety claimed the men’s giant slalom title with a victory in Friday’s final GS race. Their accomplishments concluded the most successful World Cup season for U.S. racers.
“I think it’s the greatest day in the history of the alpine team for sure,” said Bill Marolt, chief executive of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association, who was alpine director of the team in 1983 when McKinney and Phil Mahre both won overall crowns — the first and only other time Americans have swept them.
Vonn won two silver medals at the world championships last year, but World Cup titles mean more to skiers because they represent excellence throughout the grueling World Cup season.
“It’s pretty surreal,” Vonn said. “This season I was just trying to win the downhill title. Now here I am ending the season with the downhill title and an overall title. I just never would have dreamed that would have happened this year.”
Vonn, Ligety and Miller have competed nearly every weekend since Thanksgiving in 11 countries.
“To maintain your competitive edge, to maintain your physical conditioning, and just to put up with the grind of travel, these are remarkable athletes,” said Marolt, reached at a ski team fundraiser in Winter Park. “I know there are a lot of athletes out there in the world of sport, but I don’t know that any (others) have the challenges these athletes face.”
Vonn, who moved to Vail from Minnesota when she was 13 to join Ski Club Vail and expand her racing repertoire beyond slalom, won six World Cup races this season — five downhills and a super-combined — and had four more top-three finishes.
Ligety won a gold medal in combined at the 2006 Turin Olympics but said the significance of the GS title surpassed that “tenfold,” because it was so much more difficult to win.
“The Olympics is a huge event and it’s super-important in its own right, but it’s only one race and so much can happen in one race,” said Ligety, who is from Park City, Utah. “To be able to consistently lay down awesome results all year long is much more special.”
After Ligety won Friday, Vonn sprayed champagne at him.
“He was a riot, he was so excited,” Vonn said. “He just had an amazing run, and I couldn’t have been happier for him.”
Vonn later cut Ligety’s shoulder-length hair into a mullet, settling a bet Ligety made with his coaches. “It looks pretty unbelievable,” Vonn laughed.
Vonn is a newlywed, having married former U.S. Ski Team racer Thomas Vonn last fall.
“It’s so great, and she deserves everything that’s happening to her,” Thomas Vonn said.
Skiing
U.S. World Cup overall champs
Phil Mahre — 1981-1983
Tamara McKinney — 1983
Bode Miller — 2005, 2008
Lindsey Vonn — 2008
U.S. World Cup discipline champs
Marilyn Cochran — giant slalom 1969
McKinney — giant slalom 1981, 1983; slalom 1984
Mahre — giant slalom 1982, 1983; slalom 1982
Picabo Street — downhill 1995, 1996
Miller — giant slalom 2004; super-G 2005, 2007; combined 2008
Vonn — downhill 2008
Ted Ligety — giant slalom 2008
John Meyer: 303-954-1616 or jmeyer@denverpost.com
