Lessons learned at Buck Hill take Vonn to top of world

Lindsey Kildow Vonn couldn't imagine anything feeling sweeter than winning the women's downhill title on the World Cup skiing circuit. Friday, the Burnsville native topped that by earning the women's overall championship in a race that carried her back to her roots as a slalom skier at Buck Hill.

Vonn, 23, sped through the gates for an 11th-place finish in a slalom at Bormio, Italy, that gave her the overall crown for the 2008 season. She became the first American woman to win the World Cup overall title since Tamara McKinney in 1983. Her championship came three weeks after she clinched the downhill title, an amazing feat for a woman who started her career on a 300-foot incline in Burnsville.

"It was special for me to close out the overall in the slalom, because I started out as a slalom skier at little Buck Hill in Minnesota," said Vonn. "I still can't even believe it.

"I always looked at the record books and thought, 'Wow. These people are amazing.'

"I hoped one day I would get to that point," said Vonn, who now lives in Vail, Colo. "Now that I'm here, it's everything I hoped it would be."

Her five victories in the downhill this season made her the first U.S. woman to win the World Cup downhill title since her idol, Picabo Street, did so in 1995 and '96.

She started out in Erich Sailer's racing program at Buck Hill with little acclaim. Sailer once told Vonn's father, Alan Kildow, that his daughter resembled a turtle on the slopes.

The lessons she learned there helped carry her through the slalom that clinched the title. Vonn overcame a poor first run in Friday's slalom to win the second run by .19 of a second, earning enough points to assure her of the overall title. The only skier with a chance to surpass her -- Germany's Maria Riesch, Vonn's closest friend on the circuit -- was eliminated before Riesch could ski her second slalom run.

Last year, a knee injury sidelined Vonn for the final month of the World Cup season and prevented her from pursuing a title. The setback was the latest in a career that also included a horrific crash just before the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. Vonn talked her way out of the hospital and competed in four Olympic events despite a badly bruised back and pelvis.

That determination has defined her career, and it helped her rebound from last year's disappointment. "I paid attention to the points [in last year's World Cup standings], but I couldn't watch the races," said Vonn, who finished third in the downhill standings and sixth overall last season. "I was so sad I wasn't there. It was one of the hardest things to be home and not racing.

"That gave me extra determination for my summer rehab. I turned it around, worked hard and got back to where I left off."

Vonn credited husband Thomas Vonn, a former ski racer whom she married in September, with providing stability and support that helped her reach her peak this season. She also has become a smarter skier through experience.

"He said, 'Lindsey's skiing fantastic this year,"' McKinney said. "It's great to see, and it's great for the sport of skiing."

Vonn's mother, Linda Krohn, and her four siblings -- including brother Reed Kildow, a high school skiing champion -- now live in Apple Valley. Vonn plans to build shelves in her Vail home to display her trophies. First, she has to get the crystal globes home safely.