A multiple world champion, winner of the 2010 Olympic gold medal, legendary American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn recently went skiing in the mountains with 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer. Vonn, 39, retired from acting in 2019. She plays many sports, but tennis has a special place in her heart. Therefore, spending time with Federer was very important for the American. Lindsay posted an emotional post on social media.
“I finally went skiing with my friend Roger. Yes, with Roger Federer! I need a little time to process what this means to me. I have respected Roger for many years as an incredible athlete, philanthropist, and champion. Usually those you admire end up disappointing you in one way or another, but not Roger. Rog is the epitome of a true athlete and champion in every sense.
We had been talking about going skiing together for so long that I wasn’t sure it was going to work out anymore. But here we are: graduates of the great sport, riding and enjoying life! Thanks for the memories, Rog. You and your family are some of the nicest and no matter what the statistics say, you will always be the greatest ever. Because your contribution means much more than numbers. I’m just one of the millions you influence. I wish you all the best, my friend,” Vonn wrote.
Roger Federer and Lindsey Vonn skiing
Photo: From Lindsey Vonn’s personal archive.
Quite a touching post from Lindsay, which doesn’t seem like it should provoke a wave of aggression. However, many tennis fans couldn’t get past the fact that Vonn considers Federer the greatest of all time. Of course, first of all, fans of Novak Djokovic (24-time TBS champion) and, to a lesser extent, Rafael Nadal (won 22 majors) were disappointed by his post.
Under Lindsay’s publication on the social network After all, Vonn not only called Federer the greatest, but also emphasized her disdain for the statistics, which many saw as a veiled attack on Djokovic and Nadal, who surpass Roger not only in Slams won, but also in the results of personal meetings. Relatively moderate and constructive critics pointed out this point as Lindsay’s main mistake.
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The American athlete quickly responded to the wave of indignation by significantly shortening the text of the publication.
“I finally got to go skiing with my friend Roger Federer. Beautiful memories,” Vonn’s edited post read after removing all controversial and emotional statements.
Lindsey Vonn did not cope well with the influx of haters on her social media page
Photo: From Lindsey Vonn’s personal archive.
However, Lindsay only made things worse. The haters’ attack did not stop, but, on the contrary, intensified. Roger’s fans were added to the list of dissatisfied, who accused the skier of retracting her own words under pressure from Djokovic and Nadal fans. Vonn eventually deleted the post about skiing with Federer entirely.
After a while, Vonn realized she needed to explain her action.
“The biggest thing is a subjective characteristic. What makes someone great? Statistics? Records? Influence? Character? All previous? People have different opinions and that’s okay. My best may not be yours. There will always be arguments, but an opinion is just an opinion and everyone has the right to have it. I wasn’t forced to delete the post, I just didn’t want the negative comments to ruin the memories. And I didn’t compare anyone. I was simply paying tribute to my friend, who has greatly influenced my life. Everyone goes crazy when it comes to the biggest ones. And to me, Roger may be the best, no matter what anyone says,” Vonn wrote.
Roger Federer and Lindsey Vonn
Photo: From Lindsey Vonn’s personal archive.
It’s worth noting that Vonn only deleted her post on X (formerly Twitter). On his largest social network, where he has 2.2 million subscribers, Lindsay left the publication that considers Federer the greatest unchanged. There the haters were not so active.
Vonn explained the situation quite sensibly. He has every right to consider Roger Federer the best tennis player in history. However, the athlete followed the example of critics, adjusting and then completely removing the message about Roger in X. This was not the best decision.
If Lindsey cares a lot about other people’s opinions, then she should have avoided too many emotional phrases in the initial message. After all, Vonn knows all too well what it means to debate who is the best at a particular sport.
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For the past decade, Lindsay was considered the greatest alpine skier in history, but recently her achievements have begun to be overshadowed by her compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin. Notably, in January 2023, Shiffrin broke Vonn’s record for Women’s Alpine Skiing World Cup wins (83 to 82). Lindsay herself recently called Shiffrin the greatest alpine skier of all time, but she was still more of a compliment. Fans have their own opinion on the matter, there is no unanimous rise of anyone to the top.
Additionally, from 2013 to 2015, Lindsay dated legendary golfer Tiger Woods, who is also considered by many to be the best in his sport. She must understand how delicate this topic is: the undeniable exaltation of someone to the rank of the best. Previously, Lindsay was more cautious in this regard. Just six months ago, she didn’t single out anyone from the Big Three.
“I think there are three big ones. Roger, Novak and Rafa. 3 kings. Everyone is amazing,” Vonn wrote on social media.
Novak Djokovic and Lindsey Vonn during Wimbledon 2023
Photo: From Lindsey Vonn’s personal archive.
Vonn does not have any negative feelings towards Djokovic. He repeatedly tagged Novak on social media and supported his various statements about tennis. Vonn and Djokovic met at Wimbledon 2023 and had a friendly conversation. Novak called Lindsay a legendary athlete who inspires him. The skier highlighted that she had a magical time communicating with Djokovic. Vonn just went a little overboard with her emotional epithets in his post about Federer.
Jannik Sinner and Lindsey Vonn
Photo: From the personal archive of Jannik Sinner.
Lindsey Vonn has many friends in the tennis world, but she mostly skis with Jannik Sinner. The Italian was born in South Tyrol and once practiced winter sports; In social networks he has repeatedly published joint photos with Lindsay.
Vonn recently congratulated Sinner, who won his first Grand Slam title at the 2024 Australian Open. She noted his composure and bravery on court, and also said that Yannick reminds her a lot of Federer. The main thing is that in the future Vonn does not praise Sinner too much, avoiding the influx of dissatisfied fans of the conditional Carlos Alcaraz on his social networks. The incident with the Federer post will undoubtedly be a good lesson for Lindsay.
