Lindsey Vonn plans to make Salt Lake 2034 Games better for the athletes' families

PARIS (AP) — When Lindsey Vonn skied in her fourth and final Olympics in South Korea in 2018, her mother and the rest of the family took three-hour train rides from Seoul to the mountains to watch her compete. Previous experiences were not much better.

So, when she got involved in the bid for Salt Lake City to land the 2034 Winter Olympics, the now-retired alpine ski racer had an obvious focus. Vonn wanted to make life easier for athletes' families.

Earlier this week, the International Olympic Committee awarded the Games to the Utah capital, which Vonn is proud to say will have at least one family village for accommodations, along with transportation, ticket and other logistical assistance.

“It’s never been done before in the Olympics, which actually is pretty surprising to me,” Vonn said Saturday at the Summer Olympics in Paris. "We’re going to take care of the families, not just the athletes.”

Vonn, 39, won three gold medals over four Olympics from her debut in Salt Lake City in 2002 through Pyeongchang six years ago. Injuries interrupted her career, and her most recent knee surgery let her get back on the slopes recreationally.

Unlike friend Marcel Hirscher, a comeback is not in the cards. A decade from now, she will be watching, not competing.

“Unless curling needs another member — maybe I could learn that,” Vonn quipped. “I’m excited to watch and hopefully be a part of the ceremony in some way and contribute.”

Vonn attended the dazzling Paris opening ceremony on the Seine River and has already made some mental notes about what might be possible in Salt Lake City. Much of her energy up to this point had been figuring out how to contribute to a winning bid.

“That’s actually one of our biggest kind of selling points of the bid was having the family village right next to the normal athlete village, which will be so much easier,” she said. “We’ll actually help provide them with transportation and finding them tickets and actually translating for them, as well.”

Vonn feels like a kid getting to watch sports in Paris. Like seemingly everyone else, she cannot wait to catch a glimpse of beach volleyball with the Eiffel Tower serving as the backdrop, and her love of tennis should draw her to Roland Garros.

Over the years, she has corresponded with Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic about bouncing back from knee injuries.

“I know Rafa just downplays all the things he’s been through, but it is really challenging, especially when you’re in such a physical sport like tennis,” Vonn said. “Even people like Djokovic, they write me and we talk about our injuries and what we can do to help each other. A lot of it is experience, and when you have surgery for the first time there are a lot of unknowns, so helping each other through it, I think, is really important.”

Vonn plans to return to Cortina d’Ampezzo when the northern Italian mountain city hosts its share of the 2026 Olympics with Milan.

It's a place that holds a special place in her heart. She made her first podium appearance there and broke the World Cup record there.

“It’s one of the most stunning mountains in the world, and the Italians have always treated me like one of their own, so I will absolutely be there,” Vonn said. "It’s going to be an interesting Olympics. I think logistically there’ll be some tough points, but in general it’s a pretty spectacular place to be.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games