Park City resident Lindsey Vonn is beginning to make this all look way too easy.

The 24-year-old American skier has set so many records this season, it’s hard to even keep track anymore. On Wednesday, at the FIS World Cup Finals in Are, Sweden, Vonn won the downhill and clinched the overall World Cup title for the second year in a row — an unprecedented feat for an American woman. She had already claimed the World Cup title in downhill at the end of February and then, on Thursday morning, as if her dominance had not already been proven enough, Vonn won the World Cup title in the super G.

The super G victory gives her 22 World Cup wins, and put her in the ranks ahead of American female ski legends like Picabo Street, Tamara McKinney and Andrea Mead-Lawrence. Street claimed back-to-back downhill title in 1995 and 1996, as well as being an Olympic champion in 1998. McKinney was the first American woman to win the overall World Cup Championship in 1983 as well as three other giant slalom titles and Mead-Lawrence won two golds at the 1952 Olympics. It was also Vonn’s ninth win of the season, a new American record, topping Phil Mahre’s eight in 1982. It also ties her with Mahre’s 1982 record for most World Cup titles in a season.

What makes her accomplishments even more notable is just how consistent she had to be to achieve it. Unlike the Olympics or the World Championships, to earn a World Cup crystal globe, a skier must win the entire season, not just at one event. Also, in order to win this year, Vonn had to do well in her weakest event slalom. This season, she won twice on the World Cup circuit and even challenged for the season title.

But perhaps the craziest part of all of this is that Vonn grabbed these titles with a torn tendon in her hand, cut while celebrating at the World Championships last month where she won two gold medals. Vonn has had to compete since then despite constant pain and very limited use of her hand.

“My thumb seems to always be getting in the way,” she said. “I’m always asking people for help. I’m still working through the pain. I was able to come back and finish the season strong.”

She said the injury mostly affects her starts, making it hard to get a good push, but it caused her to try even harder during her runs.

“I know I’m losing time and I’ve had to ski more aggressively,” she said.

Vonn spent last summer working hard on improving both her technique and her equipment.

“In the summer, I didn’t really have a life,” she said. “I was in the gym six to eight times a week. I gave up all my time for skiing.”

It was during that time that Rossignol outfitted her with new skis that she said made a huge difference.

“I’m more prepared for each race,” she said. “It really helped my confidence throughout the season.”

During training for the downhill race, Vonn’s run had a few errors, which she corrected in the finals. Still, she said she was shocked to see she was seven seconds faster at the end of the race.

With the 2010 Vancouver Games just around the corner, an Olympic gold medal is already dominating Vonn’s thoughts. In the Games in Turin in 2006, Vonn crashed while training for the downhill and had to be evacuated by helicopter. She returned the next day to finish eighth on a bruised hip, but the whole event has made her more than hungry for Vancouver.

“I have been thinking a lot about the Olympics,” he said. “I feel like I’m a lot more prepared.” An Olympic gold medal would be the perfect crowning achievement. A native of the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburb of Burnsville, Minn., Vonn trained at legendary Buck Hill Ski Area. She medaled at age 11 in the 1996 Junior Olympics, and one year later was a Whistler Cup champion. In 1999, she was the only American to win at the prestigious Trofeo Topolino children’s race in Italy. Then, at age 15, she won silver in the downhill at her first U.S. Alpine Championships. She continued to progress through the NorAm Cup, World Junior Championships and the 2002 Olympics, where she had the best U.S. women’s result. She climbed her first World Cup podium during the 2003-2004 season and won a World Cup the following year.

“I hope I’m ready,” she said. “The Olympics mean everything.” And especially to American skiers who don’t receive the same limelight as their European peers until the Olympics. Vonn feels like her success could directly affect the success and popularity of competitive skiing in the States.

“This is my time to show how incredible skiing is,” she said. “I hope this Olympics is a chance to show everyone who I am.”

With the Winter Games looming, Vonn is quickly becoming a media darling.

“It’s been a challenge at times to handle all the press and media,” she said. “It’s nice to get the recognition and people behind you supporting you.”

Vonn said that winning an Olympic medal has been her dream since childhood. Hopefully she will be overwhelmed by even more media when she wins that medal next year at the Games.

“I hope I’m able to accomplish my dreams,” Vonn said.

The U.S. Ski Team contributed to this report.

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Lindsey Vonn Career Highlights

2009 World Cup SG title (24 years old) 2009 Second World Cup overall and downhill titles (24 years old) 2009 World Championship DH, SG gold (24 years old) 2008 World Cup overall and downhill champion (23 years old) 2007 World Championship DH, SG silver (22 years old) 2006 Olympic Spirit Award after crashing in DH training then finishing seventh (21 years old) 2005 First World Cup win; five podiums (20 years old) 2004 First U.S. Championships titles, Alyeska, 1st SG, SL (19 years old) 2004 World Junior Championships, 2nd DH, 3rd SG, 3rd GS, 4th SG, 4th CO (19 years old) 2004 First World Cup podium, Cortina DH (19 years old) 2003 World Junior Championships, 2nd DH (18 years old) 2002 World Junior Championships, 6th SG (17 years old) 2002 Olympic Team; best U.S. women’s result, sixth in combined (17 years old) 2001 World Junior Championships, 5th SL (16 years old) 2000 First World Cup, Park City (16 years old) 2000 First NorAm Cup win (16 years old) 2000 Named to U.S. Ski Team (15 years old) 2000 First FIS race wins (15 years old) 2000 First World Junior Championship Team, 14th DH (15 years old) 2000 First U.S. Championships, Jackson, 2nd DH (15 years old) 1999 USSA team, Trofeo Topolino SL champion (14 years old) 1998 USSA Junior Olympics J3 SG/GS/CO champion (13 years old) 1998 USSA team, Trofeo Topolino GS silver (13 years old) 1997 USSA team, Whistler Cup GS champion (12 years old) 1997 USSA Junior Olympic J3 SG/CO silver, GS bronze (12 years old) 1996 First USSA Junior Olympics J3 SL silver (11 years old) 1995 Watches as Picabo Street wins the World Cup DH (10 years old)

Information provided by the U.S. Ski Team