Doug Mills/The New York Times
Minutes after a race training session last November, Lindsey Vonn sat in a Colorado condominium repeatedly adjusting a bulky ice bag on her aching right knee.
“I’m old,” she said with a muffled laugh.
The conversation turned to how much longer Vonn would race; the record for career World Cup victories was within her grasp.
“Not long,” Vonn insisted. “This record is not a hill to die on for me.”
On Friday, after another serious knee injury sidelined her again, Vonn, 34, announced her retirement from ski racing.
“My body is screaming at me to STOP, and it’s time for me to listen,” Vonn posted on her Instragram account.