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Lindsey Vonn will permanently hang up her skis this month — but arriving at that decision has been anything but easy.
Earlier in February, the Olympian, 34, shared on Instagram that the World Championships in Sweden, which run from Feb. 5 to 17, will be her last events as a professional alpine skier.
“It’s been an emotional 2 weeks making the hardest decision of my life, but I have accepted that I cannot continue ski racing,” Vonn wrote alongside a slideshow of images from throughout her career. “I will compete at the World Championships in Downhill and SG next week in Åre, Sweden and they will be the final races of my career.”
Originally she planned to retire at the end of this season, but her repeated knee injuries have forced her to adjust her timeline. As Vonn described it, she’s no longer able “to compete the way I know I can.”
Throughout the challenges, though, the Olympic gold medalist has been a daily source of inspiration for fans. Here are some of Vonn’s most powerful quotes about perseverance.
On her retirement:
“Honestly, retiring isn’t what upsets me. Retiring without reaching my goal [breaking the record of most World Cup wins] is what will stay with me forever. However, I can look back at 82 World Cup wins, 20 World Cup titles, 3 Olympic medals, 7 World Championship medals and say that I have accomplished something that no other woman in HISTORY has ever done, and that is something that I will be proud of FOREVER! … I’m not giving up! I’m just starting a new chapter,” she wrote on Instagram last week. “Don’t lose faith in your dreams, keep fighting for what you love, and if you always give everything you have you’ll be happy no matter what the outcome.”
On falling and getting back up — literally:
“Knocked down 999 times, stand up 1000,” wrote Vonn on Tuesday.
On fighting:
“This is my motivation. Never give up and keep fighting for your dreams! Nothing is impossible,” she wrote on social media on Jan. 18.
RELATED VIDEO: Lindsey Vonn Looks Back at Her 3-Time Olympic Medal-Winning Ski Career: ‘I Enjoyed Every Second’
On career goals:
“I have been saying the past few years that I’ll keep skiing until I break the record, but I’ve come to the realization that my career is not the sum of this record,” she told PEOPLE in fall 2018. “I’m proud of myself no matter what. And just knowing that gives me peace of mind … I just know that I’ll work hard at whatever it is I decide to do, and with that work ethic I can be successful. That in itself makes me not as nervous, but it’s obviously an interesting transition.”
On her legacy:
“I would just like to be remembered as something more than just a ski racer … I’ve tried to be a good role model and I have my foundation and I’ve tried to give back as much as I can, and ski racing is what I’ve done but it’s not who I am, and I think I’m just kind of realizing that now, so hopefully people can see that as well,” Vonn told PEOPLE in February 2018.
On bad days:
In a Jan. 12 Instagram, Vonn told fans, “If you’re having a bad day, just remember that it will turn around.”
On commitment:
Tweeting this week, Vonn wrote, “If adversity makes you stronger I think I’m the Hulk at this point…”
On pushing through hardship:
In a video for her foundation, Vonn offered this wisdom: “We believe that excellence is the result of a journey, a journey taken by a committed individual, who begins the trip knowing her path will include a thousand failures. But the only real failure is the failure to get back up.”
She continued, “Look within and you’ll find muscle, brains, heart and grit. The ingredient that feeds, strengthens and empowers up. We know pushing past pain, misfortune and fear is the key to our ultimate success. Get up, discover, demonstrate and develop your talents.”
On never giving up:
Asked in 2015 if she ever wanted to quit skiing, Vonn shared an anecdote about crashing in 50 out of 55 races she competed in at 16, according to Vail Daily.
“I wanted to quit because I wasn’t very good, I kept falling and I couldn’t figure out how to not fall. But I made a decision that I would keep going,” she said. “I didn’t really make any money but my dad helped me and I hired a trainer, and I just kept working hard and the next season it turned around and I started to do better, and I just continued to work hard. I never really gave up, but I did question it at one point.”
“What I’ve learned from my injuries is, even if you fall, you can always pick yourself back up,” Vonn said. “Sometimes it hurts when you fall, but you just have to get right back up and keep going.”
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