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Olympic gold medalist American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn said in a 2017 interview that if she were invited to President Donald Trump’s White House, she would decline the invitation. But in 2025, he was not quick to declare his refusal.
Vonn was asked by Pak Gazette Digital if she would accept an invitation from the White House after the upcoming Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics at the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee (USOPC) Media Summit on Tuesday.
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Lindsey Vonn, right, reacts after receiving her bronze medal in the women’s downhill in Pyeongchang, South Korea, in 2018. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
“First of all, I just want to say that all Olympic athletes on Team USA are normally invited… it has nothing to do with whether you win a medal or not,” Vonn said.
“I’m not going to answer that question because I’m just not going to answer it. I want to keep my passport,” he added.
Vonn declared her initial refusal to visit the White House in December 2017, just before the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
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This file photo shows Lindsey Vonn at a press conference about her future at the Sochi Olympics, World Cup season and the 2015 World Championships at Gold Peak, Vail, Colorado. (AP/File)
“Absolutely not,” Vonn said when asked if she would go, during the 2017 CNN interview. “No. But I have to win to be invited. No, actually, I think everyone on Team USA is invited, so no, I’m not going.”
Vonn went on to suggest that she did not want to represent the president.
“Well, I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president,” Vonn said at the time. “I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, which means walking under our flag at the opening ceremony. I want to represent our country well. I don’t think there are many people in our government currently who do that.”
Vonn, 41, came out of a five-year retirement last year and broke the record for the oldest alpine skiing World Cup podium.
Lindsey Vonn of the USA wins the bronze medal during the women’s alpine downhill skiing at the Jeongseon Alpine Center on February 21, 2018, in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Alain Grosclaude/Zoom Agency/Getty Images)
He now hopes to return to the Olympics in February.
Vonn is expected to race for the first time this World Cup season in St. Moritz, Switzerland, starting December 12.
