When the Olympic ski racing champion Lindsey Vonn ended a five-year retirement to launch a conspicuous and successful comeback last winter at the age of 40, she noticed a major change in her interactions with the public. In airports, hotels and restaurants, she found herself being approached by people who knew little about sports, and absolutely nothing about ski racing.
What the people found irresistible was Vonn’s new folk-hero status in the modern phenomenon of the aging professional athlete. And they felt a kinship with her ongoing quest.
“They were my age, and they’d say, ‘I’m so proud you’re trying again,’ or, ‘We’re with you all the way,’ ” Vonn said in an interview last week from Park City, Utah, where the United States ski team is based.