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Lindsey Vonn dishes about new Under Armour collection (and what it takes to eat like an Olympian)

Lindsey Vonn has grabbed another first, this time within the world of fashion. <em>(Photo: Supplied/Lindsey Vonn / Under Armour)</em>
Lindsey Vonn has grabbed another first, this time within the world of fashion. (Photo: Supplied/Lindsey Vonn / Under Armour)

Lindsey Vonn has grabbed another first, this time within the world of fashion. The Olympic skier recently unveiled her first signature clothing collection with Under Armour, a brand she’s been working closely with for 11 years. The collection, which marries sleek construction with functionality, consists of six pieces that are inspired by epic and milestone wins she’s had on the slopes.

Among the signature collection is a camo print ‘UA Louise Jacket’, an oversized knitted ‘UA Bansko Sweater’, an iridescent-stamped legging made with a 4-way stretch material, and possibly our favourite of the bunch: the knitted beanie with double pom-poms.

Lindsey Vonn Signature Collection for Under Armour
Lindsey Vonn Signature Collection for Under Armour
Cortina Beanie from the Lindsey Vonn Signature Collection
Cortina Beanie from the Lindsey Vonn Signature Collection

Vonn, the most successful female skier in the world, has one of the mightiest resumes, of which includes snagging 77 World Cup wins (nine shy of breaking the all-time record made by Ingemar Stenmark in 1986, a record she’s currently aiming to beat). She’s also a 4-time overall World Cup champ and has the most downhill wins by any gender. The 33-year-old has been skiing since she was two years old, and her drive, resilience and determination to the be the best was fostered with the help of her father, a ski racer himself.

“My dad and I made a 10-year plan and we worked backwards; he was the one who’d say ‘you have to win this race, and this race, and he kinda built be up,” Vonn tells Yahoo Canada Style. “I had a lot of different coaches along the way, but it’s mostly been my dad pushing me to get here.”

Vonn’s ability to come back from career-crippling injuries is impressive, and in addition to grueling conditioning circuits, Vonn’s nutrition and food intake is central to her elite athlete status. But, just like us, it isn’t always easy to find options that work, especially when your home base changes on the regular.

“The biggest thing when it comes to food is consistency, that’s the hardest part, though. When I go to Korea everything is different, the food is different, the oils are different, and when I get to Europe it takes me a week to adjust to the food, even though lets say I’m just having a chicken salad, it’s prepared different, cooked different and it takes time for me to adjust,” Vonn says.

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Gym squad @vonndogs

A post shared by L I N D S E Y • V O N N (@lindseyvonn) on Nov 6, 2017 at 8:54am PST

Luckily, Vonn has found a partner in professional chef Dan Churchill, who will be with her every step during the upcoming Olympic Games. “I’m really excited that Dan is going to be there because if he doesn’t keep it as organic as possible….I’m not really sure what the options are going to be there, honestly. I’m hoping he can bring some stuff over from the U.S.”

When creating a meal plan, Churchill relies on both his talent in the kitchen and his masters in exercise science, a unique combination for a chef. His technical and experiential ability allows him to create a meal with an “information science performance perspective and a chef’s practical perspective,” he says. “Finding something that [they] actually enjoy eating” is key when Churchill starts the assessment with athletes. It’s about being realistic and “figuring out what people can sustain, healthily,” but what works for one person may not for another. For now though, his main focus is on fuelling Lindsey so she can perform at her best, and in Vonn’s case, this means creating simple foods that she can idle.

“I don’t care if it is bland as long as I feel good and it gives me energy,” Vonn explains. “You know things like brown rice and quinoa, definitely, and I stick to chicken and fish rather than meat because meat takes your body more energy to digest than other proteins and I don’t want to zap my energy unless it’s like five days out, then I can do it.” Her pre-race go-to meal is salmon, asparagus and rice, as “it’s pretty simple, but works.”

Vonn is also a big advocate for having a diet that includes high fat. “That’s something I’ve learned over the years, a higher fat diet is better. People say fat is bad but it’s not, it actually gives you a lot more energy. You definitely need to have carbohydrates in there too, but trying to have a low glycemic index and eating as clean as possible is what’s working best for me.”

The Lindsey Vonn Signature Collection for Under Armour is available for pre-sale now at UA.com.

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