Coronet Peak training ground for Winter Olympic Gold Medal winner

Vancouver 2010 Gold Medal downhill skier Lindsey Vonn has a New Zealand connection – the world’s best female downhill skier trains at New Zealand’s premier ski area, Coronet Peak.

The 25 year old spends the Southern Hemisphere winters training at Coronet Peak’s dedicated Race Arena. She has also trained at Mt Hutt in the home of New Zealand’s only downhill training facility, the Red Bull International Race Training Arena.

Lindsey Vonn was the first American women to claim a gold medal in the Downhill discipline when she won on February 17 at Whistler. She is also the first American woman to win back-to-back overall World Cup championships, in 2008 and 2009.

Hailed recently as the ‘Great Lindsey Vonn’, Lindsey trained with the US Team at Coronet Peak last year in the lead up to the NZ Winter Games. Vonn participated in all five Alpine Ski disciplines during that competition.

Coronet Peak Ski Area Manager Hamish McCrostie says his race department team was delighted to watch Lindsey claim gold.

“Coronet Peak was the team’s main training centre during the Southern Hemisphere winter and we worked incredibly hard to actively simulate the conditions these racers would encounter during World Cup and Olympic racing. It’s great to see her succeed.”

“The conditions we provide are just as challenging as those encountered on the Olympic stage. We’re all pretty pleased now to see their training and our efforts paying off. We’re also incredibly pleased for her coaches, including her husband, former US skier Thomas Vonn, who we work with each year.”