There’s one other thing that makes these Olympics different: “I have never been single going into any Olympics in my life,” she says, and I can hear the curiosity in her voice. “So I’m excited to try that out.” (She was married to fellow skier Thomas Vonn from 2007 to 2013, and later engaged to NHL star P.K. Subban, though that relationship ended in 2020.)

She’s one hundred percent focused on her skiing right now, and she doesn’t have time for anything else—even if she kind of wants to. “It’s been really nice to just be focused on myself,” she says.

If there’s one constant in Vonn’s life, it’s that people have told her she’s not good enough. That she doesn’t have the right body type, the right skill set. That she won but she’ll never win again. “It’s been that way my whole life,” she says. “And off the slopes as well. It’s really never-ending.” However, she’s developed thick skin and her philosophy is simple: “I never stop believing in myself.”

She evaluates negativity like a data point. “What is it actually doing for me? It’s actually doing nothing. It just erodes my self-confidence.” So she blocks out the noise and comes back to what she knows to be true.

Talk to Vonn long enough and you start to see how she’s built routines that make the intensity of being an Olympic athlete survivable.

Every morning: three eggs, half an avocado, and a cinnamon-raisin bagel. Lunch is usually rice, broccoli, some steamed vegetable, and chicken. Dinner is steak or salmon, salad with quinoa and avocado and veggies. “Super, super boring,” she says, laughing. But it’s efficient.

Her comfort food? Ice cream. Ben & Jerry’s Half Baked or Mint Chocolate Cookie. She has a very specific ritual learned from her mom: heat the pint in the microwave for 15 seconds, scoop it into a mug, eat it while watching Law & Order or Saturday Night Live, then put the pint back in the freezer immediately. “If I leave it out of the freezer, it’s gonna be consumed,” she admits.