-Our next guest is a four-time Olympian,
Olympic Gold medalist, World Cup champion,
and the most decorated female skier of all time.
Her memoir, "Rise: My Story," is on sale now.
Please welcome back to the show our friend, Lindsey Vonn.
How are you, Lindsey?
-Hey, Seth, I'm good. How are you?
-I'm wonderful.
I'm very sorry we can't be doing this in person.
I do hope next time that is the case.
Congratulations on the book.
I want to ask you about that,
but I feel like there's something
even more important to congratulate you on.
You went on vacation, a ski vacation,
which I think people would assume you do all the time,
but you wrote that it was the first ski vacation
since you were 9 years old.
-Yeah, I'm pretty pumped about it.
It was better than I expected.
You know, when I was 9,
I didn't do après-ski, so I felt like I --
I crushed the après-ski this time around,
and it was a much more entertaining experience
than what I remember when I was 9.
-Now, a couple of questions.
You were skiing with some friends.
Do you have to, like, let up a little bit
when you're Lindsey Vonn out
with some civilians on their skis?
-I usually let them have, like, a little bit of a head start,
and then, when they're about three-quarters of the way down,
then I'll try to catch up, and usually,
I'll still end up waiting for them at the lift. [ Laughs ]
-Now, how many people on the slopes --
'Cause I imagine if you see Lindsey Vonn on the ski slope,
you probably think you're hallucinating.
Do people clock you
when they're next to you on the ski slopes?
-I've definitely gotten some interesting comments.
I think most of the time, you know,
they have their heads turned, and they're like,
"What? What's going on here?"
And I try to ski a bit incognito so no one --
I try not to, you know, draw too much attention to myself.
But I definitely catch the attention of the ski patrol,
and generally they're chasing after me,
trying to pull my pass. [ Laughs ]
-[ Laughs ]
I want to also ask about the fact
that the Olympics are coming up, and I'm wondering,
when it's right around the corner like this,
do you feel relief to not be competing,
or do you feel nostalgia for all the years that you did?
-I definitely have a bit of FOMO.
I wish that I was racing,
but at the same time, I think, right now, with COVID,
everything is so different and there's so many new challenges
that I definitely am not envious of that.
But I do miss the competition.
And, you know, the Olympics are always so special.
You know, the opening ceremonies
and -- and just the whole experience in general.
I'm definitely going to be jealous,
but I'm excited to cheer on my teammates,
my former teammates, and all of the Team USA athletes.
It's going to be fun to watch.
-Now, I can't quite remember where skiing falls
in the winter Olympics, but did you --
after you competed,
did you have a few days to just enjoy yourself
when you were there, or was it right at the tail end?
-No, I actually never have had a chance
to celebrate after the Olympics.
It's usually straight back into competition.
And I think when I won, I think I had one glass of champagne,
and then I had a race the next day.
So there is literally no celebration
until the end of the season, which was March,
and that's definitely anticlimactic.
But I -- you know, I'll definitely be celebrating
for the athletes this time around.
-All right. I can't imagine --
I don't think it's easy to go on a book tour,
but I do want to stress to you --
and I've met a lot of authors --
you can drink all the way through your book tour.
Please don't wait till the very end
and just have one glass of champagne.
-Okay, okay. Great advice, Seth.
I'll take your word for it.
I'll definitely try that.
-A lot of authors are, like, famous drunks.
You could even go -- just go on, go for it.
-Well, I mean, it's just --
-You've got a lot of catching up to do.
-I got après-ski, and I got the, you know, book tour.
Is there a term for, like, drinking on book tours?
-We're going to come up with one.
Yeah, like, après-livre.
I think that's -- livre, like the French -- après--
We'll figure it out. But I want to ask --
-That sounds fancy. That sounds fancy.
-You -- [ Laughs ]
Just book beers. How about book beers?
-[ Laughs ] Sounds great.
Let's have some book beers.
-There you go.
So you -- you wrote your book,
and then you actually decided to go back
and rework a fair amount of it.
And I would imagine --
I'm surprised that doesn't happen more often.
You're writing about your life,
and then when it's finally on the page and, you know,
it has a sense of being the permanent record,
you must have --
It's in that moment that you must think,
"Wait, this isn't quite right."
What did you have to go back and sort of rework
before it was ready to go?
-Pretty much everything.
You know, when I was writing it,
I was still kind of closing out my career,
and then, you know, right after I retired,
I was just in a really weird spot.
You know, I was definitely a bit depressed,
and I, you know, had a bit of resentment that I had to retire
because I would have loved to keep going.
I just physically couldn't do it anymore with all of my injuries.
So I just -- The tone of the book wasn't right,
and I wanted it to be really inspirational.
I wanted it to be, you know,
motivating to others who also faced adversity.
So I literally scrapped the whole thing
and started it completely over.
And now I'm really happy with the result.
I think it was the right decision.
-I have one last thing I want to ask you about,
which is very cool, as well -- not just an author,
but you also co-directed a film about one of your heroes,
Olympic skier Picabo Street.
How did that come about, and what was it about her
that you wanted to -- to make a film?
-I mean, Picabo has such an amazing story,
and I think people know quite a bit about her
because she was so successful,
and that's one of the reasons why she was my idol growing up.
But it was such an honor to be able to direct
and produce this film with Frank Marshall.
I mean, he's such a legend in film.
So now everyone will know all that I know about Picabo.
And, yeah, she's just such a legend,
so it was just truly an honor.
-Now, I would imagine you -- when you spoke to her
or when you speak to her, you always say,
"You were my hero. I watched you growing up."
Are there Olympic athletes who have started
saying that to you yet, Lindsey?
Has that moment come?
-Yeah, you know, I'm not that young anymore, Seth,
so that time has definitely come, come and gone.
But I think the person that's had the most impact on me
was Sofia Goggia,
who actually won the last Olympic downhill in Pyeongchang,
and I obviously was in those Olympics with her.
And she's always said since the beginning
that I was her idol, which is a little bit weird
'cause we're not that far apart in age,
but it was -- it was really meaningful to me,
and she still asked me for advice.
And, you know, she's obviously still at the top of her game.
She's won every single downhill this year.
So to have someone like that, you know, still having me
as their idol is very, very meaningful to me.
-Well, it's very well deserved.
Thank you so much for being here.
Congratulations on the book and the film
and the incredible career.
I hope next time, I see you in person.
-Definitely. Thanks, Seth.
Have some book beers for me.
-[ Laughs ] Will do.
"Rise: My Story" is on sale now wherever you buy your books,
but please support local and independent bookstores.
We'll be right back with more "Late Night."