Lindsey Vonn Reveals She Was Bullied Into Becoming ‘Lean’ After Getting Shamed For Her Strong Body
Skiing legend Lindsey Vonn is revealing how since retiring from the sport, she’s become more lean after being body shamed for how muscular she once was.
To be an Olympic gold medal winning professional skier with 82 World Cup wins, Lindsey Vonn‘s body was a machine. But that meant that she had to maintain incredibly strong muscles — especially in her backside and legs — to be a champion in her sport. The 36-year-old — who retired from competing in 2019 — is now revealing how she used to be shamed for her strong and fit body, especially when it came to her fashion choices and how they fit her athletic figure.
During her competitive skiing days, Lindsey would still make red carpet appearances and get glam for the ESPYs, the Met Gala, and other events. “A lot of people have said, ‘You shouldn’t wear things like that. It doesn’t look good on your body type.’ Or ‘You’re too muscular for that,'” when it came to her fashion decisions. “I’m not going to say who, but I’ve had a lot of people say not such nice things to me,” the former Olympian reveals in a new interview with New York Post’s Alexa magazine.
Now that she’s no longer skiing competitively, Lindsey works out three times a week doing a mix of cardio and strength with her personal trainer to the stars Gunnar Peterson. As a result, Lindsay now has an entirely different body than she ever had before, as she had been skiing competitively nearly all of her life.
“I’m a lot leaner,” Lindsey reveals. “I used to do things that were so sport specific, so I had to be bigger. But everyone is like, ‘Oh my God, you’re in the best shape of your life.’ It’s like — yes and no. I’m not training for my sport anymore, I am training to be lean and fit.” The women’s skiing GOAT says that nowadays, “I’m just working out to keep my knee strong and feel good.” Lindsey frequently posts her workouts to her Instagram, such as the video below from Mar. 3, 2021:
Lindsey has revealed in the past how her competitive athlete body make her feel awkward on red carpets or at Hollywood events. In a Nov. 2020 interview with Access Hollywood, the blonde beauty shared that she had serious body image issues due to having to stand next to and pose alongside tiny sample-size starlets.
‘I had a lot of anxiety and body image issues when I came on the red carpet because I was, you know, 30, 40, 50 pounds heavier than everyone that I was standing next to,” Lindsey revealed to Access‘ Kit Hoover. It even went on to affect her competitive skiing ability. “There were definitely moments where I sacrificed a bit of my skiing career, especially after the Olympics. I lost weight because I felt like I needed to fit in and that cost me World Cup wins, that cost me an overall title,” she admitted.
Even in Lindsey’s heyday of ruling the slopes she still was very body conscious, but was more outwardly confident. “I definitely don’t fit in on the red carpet. I’m like twice the size of anyone, in both height and weight! I’m five-foot-ten, but I’m definitely quite a bit heavier than everyone else,” she shared in a Nov. 2015 Health magazine profile. She proudly added, “I feel like the odd man out sometimes, but that’s even more reason to be confident, to show girls that you don’t have to be a size 2 to be beautiful. Any size is beautiful as long as you’re confident in yourself.” Now that’s a positive message!