Earlier this spring, I wrote here on LinkedIn about Lindsey Vonn and her decision to return to the World Cup—at the age of 40, after nine surgeries, with a knee prosthesis, and a diagnosis that sounded like a final verdict: “Broken beyond repair.”

“Too old.”
“Too broken.”
“Gone for too long.”
“Too dangerous.”

All of this was thrown at her—both publicly and behind closed doors.

Lindsey Vonn has never paid much attention to such judgments from others. She said she didn’t want to compete as a nostalgic act or a spectacle, but as a fierce competitor. Not the opinions of others, but her own conviction was her compass.

What she achieved last Friday impresses me deeply. In St. Moritz, Lindsey Vonn won the downhill at the age of 41—becoming the first athlete with a knee prosthesis to do so, and by far the oldest winner in the history of the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup. Her victory is more than a sporting triumph—it is a statement and proof that it is not circumstances, but our mindset, that defines our limits.

Anyone who has followed Lindsey Vonn over the years knows: she has never taken the easy path. She always skied more aggressively, more directly, and more boldly than others. She wanted to compete against men—something she was not allowed to do. She never let herself be confined by categories—neither by gender, nor by age, nor by expectations. Her identity was never defined by others, but by conscious choice.

Lindsey Vonn doesn’t say, “I made a mistake,” but “I learned something.”
She doesn’t say, “I’m too old,” but “I need to find ways to use my age to my advantage.”
She doesn’t say, “I can’t do this,” but “I can’t do this yet.”

In an interview with Die Zeit, Lindsey Vonn once said:
“I have never been afraid of failing. (…) As a ski racer, you fail all the time. There’s no other way. I want to motivate people to do more—both professionally and personally. More than they can imagine.”

I believe that with yesterday’s victory, she achieved that in a truly impressive way.

She showed that high performance is not a question of age. That mental strength can outweigh physical perfection. That setbacks are not the end—but the beginning of something new. Lindsey Vonn is the “personification of a growth mindset”.

That is exactly what we also need in our economy in these challenging times. We don’t need people who constantly talk about how difficult everything is and how everything used to be better. People who keep complaining and looking for excuses. No—we need people like Lindsey Vonn: people who believe in themselves, who want to get better every day, and who are deeply convinced that our effort and our attitude define our possibilities.

This post was published by Wolfgang Jenewein on LinkedIn on December 15, 2025. Zum Original-Beitrag