See all the photos from the U.S. Ski Team announcement here.
Lindsey Vonn was welcomed back to the Vail Valley with two different homecomings this week - one at a high school with one lucky local and another with the U.S. Ski Team as they announced their official roster.
Vonn greeted an enthusiastic crowd with teammates Steven Nyman, Bode Miller, Julia Mancuso, Ted Ligety, Tommy Ford, and Sarah Schleper who met at the bottom of the Vista Bahn to build up excitement for the coming season. Vonn gave a special shout out to her homecoming date, Parker McDonald, noting his dance skills.
"Parker was a great date," Vonn said. "He is a gentlemen and kept his hands above the waist which my husband was pretty happy about. He has some serious dance moves. I was very impressed."
McDonald asked Vonn to attend his homecoming at Vail Ski and Snowboard Academy after training near her on Golden Peak at Vail Mountain. Vonn has never attended a real homecoming and was so impressed with his charisma that she said yes.
"I did the whole deal; I went to his friend's house to take pictures, got a boutonnière for him, and then drove like all 15 kids to the dance. We definitely made an entrance," Vonn said. "When I pulled up the first thing he told me was 'You do realize you changed my life right? I'm the most popular kid in school now.' He was so cute - it was awesome."
Vonn and the rest of the athletes changed a few more people's lives at the event today -- including Ian and Mac Connor. The Connor family from Bartlett, NH beat out 2,000 other entries in the Vail First Tracks program, winning this trip out to Vail to meet the whole team and ask a question of the athletes live. Six-year-old Mac asked Bode Miller on the mic what his favorite part about going fast was.
"The best thing about going fast is that you get to feel like you're breaking some sort of law," Miller said. "Breaking the rules and when you don't end up crashing -- that's my favorite too."
A massive amount of snow started to fall right before the event in Vail Village but despite the weather, the die-hard fans cheered loudly as each member of the roster was announced. Vail offered fans complimentary hot chocolate and cookies to ward off the chill.
Golden Peak is open for the team for training now and Vail will officially open on Nov. 18 for the season.
--Morgan Bast