With attention on her personal life intensifying, Lindsey Vonn will be surrounded by bodyguards at the Alpine skiing world championships this week in Schladming, Austria.
Vonn, a native of Burnsville who has won four overall World Cup women's titles, said Red Bull, her sponsor, has hired security "to make sure I can get in and out and not have any difficulty, but I don't expect there to be any problems. It's better to be safe than sorry."
An average of 30,000 fans per race are expected in this small Alpine village during the 13-day championships, which start Tuesday with the women's super-G, in which Vonn is the favorite, and end Feb. 17.
"There's going to be an incredible amount of people here in Schladming, and it's a very small space," Vonn said.
There has been online chatter about an alleged relationship between Vonn and Tiger Woods. She was asked by a local TV reporter whether the golfer would be coming to watch her ski.
"I don't know," Vonn replied, laughing. "You should ask him."
