Lindsey Vonn’s entire skiing career has been built on tracing the razor’s edge between glory and disaster. She has stayed on the glorious side more often than not, winning a record 45 World Cup downhill races. She has also trespassed into disaster territory, her body bearing the scars of several bone-breaking, ligament-tearing crashes.
It’s how she is wired to compete. Even in a profession predicated on embracing risk, Vonn’s fearlessness is an outlier. Having mounted an unprecedented comeback in her 40s, she is painfully aware of the potential for physical ruin embedded in her approach to racing. She still cannot back away from that razor’s edge.
