Alpine skiing: Vonn urges athletes to be mindful of wellbeing amid unprecedented challenges

FILE PHOTO: Alpine Skiing - FIS Ski World Cup - Men's Super G - Kitzbuehel, Austria - January 24, 2020 Former skier Lindsey Vonn attends the podium ceremony REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

(Reuters) - Winter Olympic athletes are facing enormous challenges ahead of the 2022 Beijing Games, former Olympic Alpine skiing downhill champion Lindsey Vonn told Reuters, as the COVID-19 pandemic has upended "normalcy" across the globe.

With the 2020 Summer Olympics pushed back a year, American Vonn, who retired in 2019 having claimed a women's record 82 World Cup victories, said the challenges athletes are facing in the coronavirus era go beyond any norm.