Every year, alpine skiers who win season titles on the World Cup circuit receive a crystal globe to commemorate the achievement.
Lindsey Vonn already had such a collection of that crystal before this week she figured it was about time to have a lighted trophy case built to highlight all the facets of her success.
The dimensions of the space where Vonn wanted the trophies displayed above the fireplace in her Vail, Colo., house meant there was a choice between a case to hold the 17 she had won going into this season or one that could hold 23.
Vonn, buoyed by the confidence that has made her the most decorated women’s alpine skier in history, wisely chose the bigger case despite having missed most of the past two seasons to major knee surgeries.
Now the question is whether it will be big enough.
By winning Thursday’s Super-G and Wednesday’s downhill at the World Cup Finals in Meribel, France, the 30-year-old Vonn added two more of the foot-high trophies for discipline season titles to a set that now includes seven in downhill, five in Super-G and three in combined. She also has four of the slightly larger (16 inches tall) globes for overall season titles.
Her new total, 19, matches the record for season titles set by Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark, the only skier to have won more World Cup races (86) than Vonn’s 67.
“I didn’t know he had that record until yesterday,” Vonn said during a Thursday teleconference from Meribel. “I thought it would be pretty amazing to equal it (because) it just seems he is someone whose records are unattainable.
“To be at the same level in at least one of the many categories he has records in is pretty incredible.”
Vonn got there this season by winning eight World races (four downhill, four Super-G) after having been able to compete in just four races all last season because of the knee issues that kept her from the Sochi Olympics. Those victories allowed her to pass Austria’s Annemarie Moser-Proell (62 wins) as the all-time women’s World Cup leader.
“It definitely is one of the best and most meaningful seasons of my career,” she said. “To be able to come back, especially when a lot of people doubted me, is very satisfying.
“It gives me a lot of confidence going forward. I’m going to ski for a few more years. It’s nice to know I still can win the titles.”
With her damaged knee no longer causing problems, Vonn expects to start next season in better overall shape, with a full preparation period for the first time since the 2012-13 season. She said the muscles in her right leg are still atrophied as a result of time lost after the surgeries.
“I can’t afford to take any time off,” said Vonn, who will finish the season in Sunday’s giant slalom, then start to squeeze strength training into a busy travel schedule expected to include following boyfriend Tiger Woods at golf tournaments.
And the thought of reaching Stenmark’s 86 wins, no longer out there on a lost horizon?
“Mathematically, it’s definitely possible,” she said. “But I don’t really look at that as a goal right now. My goal is to keep winning races and keep trying to get as many titles as I can, and I’m looking forward to the next (2018) Olympics.”
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Should she pass Stenmark, that new trophy case likely will overflow.
“If I win more than 23, I will have to build a new one, but I think this will suffice,” she said, with a laugh.