As someone who has experienced the pressure firsthand, Lindsey Vonn knows that being the favorite to bring home Olympic gold comes with more demands than just performing in a certain event.
"It definitely adds to the stress and pressure,'' Vonn told Savannah Guthrie on TODAY Thursday. "I would much rather be the underdog. You have more space. When you’re in the spotlight, the cameras follow you everywhere. They want to get in the gondola ride with you, they want to be with you in the start. You have no real personal time to focus on yourself, so it definitely makes things a lot harder."
Vonn, who is serving as a stateside Olympic correspondent for TODAY during the Sochi Games, faced that type of scrutiny at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver, where she won a gold medal in the downhill race and a bronze in the Super-G. Keeping things simple and orderly helped her focus on a goal she had worked four years to achieve.
Watch the video: Lindsey Vonn talks about the pressure on Olympians
"That’s one of the hardest things about being an Olympian is you know the pressure,'' she said. "You know the whole world is watching, and you have one moment to show everyone what you’re made of. For me, what really helped me in Vancouver is sticking to my routine, doing the same things that I had done consistently over my entire career. I just accepted it. You accept that everyone expects something of you, but in the end it’s all up to you to make a good run and get your medal."
Acclimating to Russia also presents a different challenge to U.S. athletes than Vancouver, according to Vonn.
"Russia is a totally different story than Vancouver,'' she said. "(In) Vancouver, you’re in North America, you feel comfortable, (and) everyone speaks English. In Russia, you can’t even read the signs. It’s a completely different language, completely different situation. The security, too, is crazy."
Security concerns in Sochi also mean athletes may have to plan their routines around potential delays.
"It’s insane,'' Vonn said. "You have to really get used to it. You have to wake up and allow an extra hour to be able to get to the start. You have to put your skis through a metal detector. It’s things like that that can definitely stress you out a lot more than you expect."