Roger Federer made an appearance at the skiing world championships, where he inspired Lindsey Vonn to win a bronze medal in St. Moritz.
Since winning his 18th grand slam championship at the Australian Open in Melbourne, Roger Federer has been relaxing with his family in his home country of Switzerland. His victory in Melbourne was proof that no matter your age you can still achieve greatness and achieve the peak of your sport. He has inspired a lot of people throughout his career and at 35 is still winning grand slams.
Well on his recent trip to the world skiing Championship in St. Moritz, he inspired yet another person to succeed in their sport no matter what age you are, that athlete was none other than Lindsey Vonn. The illustrious US Skier won her seventh world championships medal, by winning bronze in the downhill event. She is the oldest competitor at 32, to win a medal at the event, this comes a month after she returned from a broken arm and severe nerval damage in the right hand.
After her bronze medal triumph Lindsey Vonn spoke how Roger Federer’s latest achievements helped play a big part in her success in St. Moritz, “He’s still here. I’m going to go say hi, don’t tell anyone. I love ‘Rog,’. He’s the best. He won in Australia and I feel like a lot of people counted him out because he’s ‘old.’ And he won.
“I get so much inspiration from that. He’s such a humble person but he has so much heart. He always gives everything he has. I try to emulate that in myself, in my skiing, in my career.”
Analysis
It is obvious that Roger Federer’s victory took everyone by surprise in Melbourne, even though Vonn eluded to that it was due to his age, which is not necessarily true, it was a shock to many that in his first grand slam back he was able to win the tournament. After his gruelling five set win against Rafael Nadal in the final, his achievement will be one of inspiration to many. This is as many people thought that Federer was incapable of winning seven matches in a row.
Lindsey Vonn is a prime example of someone that has battled all odds to get back to winning ways and drawing off inspiration from the greatest tennis player of all time is certainly one way to get fired up for a world championship. It is good to see the Swiss maestro having an impact from athletes from different sports, as this is what draws the audience in to watching tennis and grabbing the attention of new fans. As a result this has a positive impact on tennis and the next generation of players, will we see another Roger Federer? Probably not, with the attention he grabs, it is important for tennis that Roger Federer stays in the sport for as long as possible.
Roger Federer returns to action on the 27th of February when he competes at the ATP World Tour 500 event in Dubai.
