Vonn racing for US, not Trump, in Korea

Dec 7, 2017 - 4:40 PM Lindsey Vonn will be representing the "people of the United States, not the president" at February's Winter Olympics, the American skiing star has revealed.

Her remarks about US President Donald Trump came in an interview with CNN's Alpine Edge as the 33-year-old prepares to make what is expected to be her final appearance at an Olympics.

"I hope to represent the people of the United States, not the president," Vonn said.

"I take the Olympics very seriously and what they mean and what they represent, what walking under our flag means in the opening ceremony.

"I want to represent our country well. I don't think that there are a lot of people currently in our government that do that."

The 2010 Olympic and eight-time World Cup downhill champion has been plagued with injuries in recent years, and missed Sochi 2014, but is fit again now after breaking her arm a year ago.

Vonn, who also said she would not accept an invitation to the White House if she were to win gold in Pyeongchang, is not the first major American athlete to criticise Trump, who has usually wasted little time in retaliating via Twitter.

She was also asked for her views on how the International Olympic Committee has responded to the uncovering of Russia's state-sponsored doping program.

"If even a small percentage of that is true I would think the IOC did the right thing," she said.

"Obviously, there are potential athletes that are clean but they have the option now to compete under a neutral flag, which I think is a good solution.

"But doping and what the Russians did is just not acceptable and we have to make that clear. And make sure that it doesn't happen again."

Source: AAP