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SALT LAKE CITY — As a 17-year-old from Minnesota competing her first Winter Games in 2002, Olympic champion skier Lindsey Vonn was surrounded by family.
"It was the only Olympics that every single member of my family was in attendance," Vonn told the Deseret News. A member of the Salt Lake City-Utah Committee for the Games, she's in Paris to help make a final pitch on July 24 for the state to host another Winter Games, in 2034, ahead of the International Olympic Committee's deciding vote.
As the chief of athlete experience for the bid, Vonn will showcase what would be the first-ever Athlete Family Village at an Olympics. The initiative would provide accommodations, access to tickets and other assistance to support family members who want to be in Utah to see their loved ones compete.
In 2002, Vonn's parents, grandparents, four younger siblings and other relatives all came for her races, staying with a second cousin in Salt Lake City. Thanks to the public transportation available, Vonn said it was "relatively easy" for her grandparents, both ski jumpers, to get to those events at the Utah Olympic Park in Park City.
"I know my family had an amazing experience," she said, even though "trying to get everyone there was a lot." Her mother had a stroke giving birth to Vonn and was permanently disabled. Over the years, "she had a lot of trouble getting to all of the Olympic venues. I want to make that experience better for other families than it was for my family."
Why having family at the Olympics 'means so much' to athletes
Vonn, who retired from competition in 2019 after competing in four Olympics, had a tough time at the 2006 Winter Games in Torino, Italy. She severely bruised her back after crashing during a downhill training run and had to be airlifted by helicopter off the mountain to an area hospital. This time, only her mother was with her for what was a "really challenging" experience.
"If my mom hadn't had been there, it would have been horrible. But she was there and she took me back up to the village up in Sestriere when I was able to leave the hospital. I had her support. I think sometimes we forget how much our parents and families do for us," she said.
Unlike World Cup events, Vonn said "the Olympics were the one event that my family came to. My mother was at every single Olympics. Win, lose or draw, they're always there," even though at her last Winter Games, in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018, her family stayed in Seoul and traveled nearly three hours by train to see her competitions.
Vonn lost her mother, Lindy Anne Lund, in August 2022. Lund's death came a year after she was diagnosed with ALS.
"Growing up as a kid, that's all I wanted to do was be a Olympian. My family is the reason why I was able to do that," Vonn said, adding she's "always been very aware of the sacrifices that were made for me to be where I am. I just think it's so important and it means so much to have them there, and that's why I am so passionate about making this family village."
A gold medalist at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, Vonn joined the effort to bring the Olympics back to Utah after getting a call several years ago from Fraser Bullock, the bid's president and CEO.
"We brainstormed on my past experiences, what it is I could contribute to the bid, what it is I thought could be made better for everyone involved. That's where we came up with the family village," first announced in May 2023, Vonn said. "To be able to be a part of something that will be a first for any Olympics is something to be really proud of."
Making a 2034 Winter Games 'the best we've ever seen'
Bullock said Vonn is a volunteer who has been "very generous with her time." He said she's played a key role in the bid, providing "the inspiration for our Athletes' Families Initiative. She has been fantastic in every way."
Vonn describes herself to her 2.3 million Instagram followers as, "Olympic champion🥇 NYT best selling author, founder of the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, entrepreneur, investor and dog mom," and posts about everything from her recovery from recent knee surgery to her glamorous appearance at this year's ESPY awards, where Prince Harry was honored.
In her bid committee role, she's traveled to the IOC's Swiss headquarters and hiked up ski runs in the summer with officials to help bring back the Olympics. If the bid succeeds, Vonn said she plans to be part of organizing a 2034 Winter Games in Utah.
"I'm in this for the long haul," Vonn said, acknowledging there's a lot to be done over the next decade.
If Utah gets the Games, she said she'll "continue to work hard to make sure the athlete and family experience is the best that it can possibly be." Praising Bullock's leadership, Vonn said she's "part of an amazing team and we will all work as hard as possible to make sure that if we do get the Games, 2034 will be the best we've seen."
