Vonn: Gold medal expectation 'is pretty out of whack'

Lindsey Vonn took home a bronze medal in women's downhill in likely her final Olympics, but the American skiing legend admitted that finishing on the podium isn't necessarily the most important thing.

Vonn spoke Friday of the overall Olympic experience and how the public may not be right to simply judge an athlete's performance by how many medals he or she has won.

"I think the expectation of winning gold medals is pretty out of whack," Vonn said Friday, per Nancy Armour of USA Today. "I think we need to be proud of all of our athletes for how much they've sacrificed and put in to be here. The medals, they're not necessarily what the Olympics are all about. The Olympics are a unifying event, one that has profound impact on the entire world. To quantify it in how many medals you have is not appropriate and doesn't respect the athletes and what they've put in to be at these games."

The United States struggled in the opening week of competition, but a recent run of medals has them sitting fourth at 21 (eight gold). Despite a better record in recent days, the U.S. will be hard-pressed to match their total of 28 from Sochi with only two days of events left.

Vonn, who also won gold and bronze at Vancouver 2010, is a perfect example of someone who has sacrificed and battled just to get to the Olympics after missing Sochi 2014 due to injury. Her bronze in PyeongChang made her the oldest female alpine medalist in Olympic history, and while it represents a third-place finish, it probably means as much as a gold to the veteran skier.