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Lindsey Vonn; Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan in Cortina d'Ampezzo
Michel Cottin/Agence Zoom/Getty; Julian Finney/Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan praised Lindsey Vonn after coming in third in the women's team combined event on Feb. 10
- The athletes called Vonn a "role model" and an "idol"
- Vonn is recovering after fracturing her tibia in a devastating crash on Feb. 8
Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan may be Olympic medalists themselves, but they still look up to teammate Lindsey Vonn.
After winning bronze in the women's team event on Feb. 10, Wiles and Moltzan took a moment to praise Vonn in a press conference, just two days after she fractured her tibia in a devastating crash.
Wiles was an ambassador for the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, and says the legendary skier took it upon herself to support Wiles financially when she realized that Wiles was partially paying her own way through her season.
"She became a great friend and role model and I think that it is super cool, just the female empowerment that she embodies," she said of Vonn. "When I got hurt in 2018, she let me rehab at her house... I remember watching her compete in Pyeongchang and I was sitting on her couch after surgery and it was pretty special that she wanted to help me so much."
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Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan on Feb, 19, 2026
Julian Finney/Getty
Moltzan, meanwhile, said she and Vonn, 41, are both from Buck Hill, Minn., so she's considered the star "an idol my entire life."
"I looked up to her for so long. And when she came back two seasons ago, she's been nothing but a great mentor for me and friend," she said. "I found times that I can text her when I'm struggling. Even earlier this season, I was struggling with my first runs and she told me that you can't win a race until you don't want to win a race. And I was like, 'Alright, how do I do that?'"
Wiles added that Vonn has "been through a lot," and she considers her a "lifelong friend."
"I'm super grateful that she's been a part of my life for so long," she said.
Wiles, 33, and Moltzan, 31, took home the bronze medal for Team USA on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at the Tofane Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. Their fellow Team USA duo Breezy Johnson, who won gold in the women's downhill on Feb. 8, and Mikaela Shiffrin finished in fourth place.
Vonn broke her silence in a post on social media just one day after crashing during her downhill run on Feb. 8 and being airlifted to the hospital for surgery.
"Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would," she began her post.
"It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches."
Vonn said she has "no regrets" after "yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused," adding, "Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport."
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.https://people.com/lindsey-vonn-che...-crash-winter-olympics-2026-11902256#comments
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