Red Bull.com

The unquestionable siren of the skiing world, Lindsey Vonn is as tough as they come in the gruelling world of alpine racing with an awe-inspiring ability to push herself to the limit every time she dons a pair of skis.

This down-to-earth Minnesota girl, married to fellow Olympian skier Thomas Vonn, has rocketed to the very top of her game in just a few years. She became the first American woman to win an Olympic downhill gold medal, which she did with grace and style at the Vancouver Games in 2010. She also took the bronze in the Super G.

By the age of 18, she already had three World Cup downhill victories to her name and was on her way to the 2006 Olympic Games in Turin when disaster struck. A horrific crash in practice all-but ended her chances before the contests had even begun. But that setback only strengthened her resolve and the following year she struck back, winning silver medals in downhill and Super G at the World Championships. It was a signal of intent. In 2008 she won both the overall and the downhill World Cup titles.

In 2009, she not only successfully defended her two titles – becoming the first American woman to claim back-to-back overall World Cup championships – but also added the Super G crown. Lindsey topped off a perfect season by also winning downhill and Super G golds at the World Championships.

She then added to her impressive FIS CV with another overall World Cup crown in 2010, as well as the title in the Super G, Downhill and Combined disciplines – a feat she repeated again in 2011.

Continuing her blaze of glory, the first lady of alpine racing was named the Laureus World Sports Awards Sportswoman of the Year for 2010, picked up the 2010 and 2011 ESPY award and also bagged a part in her favourite TV show Law & Order.