It 's been a long old road to recovery for U.S. skiing star Lindsey Vonn . The Olympic gold medal winner and four time overall World Cup champion has been sidelined for much of the last two years after undergoing separate bouts of surgery on a recurring knee injury . A promising returning to action in late 2013 was cut short by a fall in training which meant she missed out on defending her downhill crown at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi . Now , after knuckling down in the gym and overcoming that bitter disappointment , the 30-year-old Vonn is finally set to return to competitive action . And opening up to CNN , she revealed her secret weapon as she fought to get back to the top of the slopes -- her boyfriend and golf star , Tiger Woods . `` Tiger and I both went through rehab with our injuries at a similar time , so we were both in the gym together and pushing each other and motivating each other , both frustrated , '' Vonn said . `` I think we both helped each other a lot through that time , and I drew a lot of inspiration from him and I think he does the same with me . `` We continue to push each other and it 's a really positive relationship in that way . '' Woods ' own injury problems began after a promising start to 2014 . The 14-time major champion regained the World No 1. spot in March but was unable to recapture the form that took him there after undergoing back surgery shortly afterwards . A poor summer meant Woods dropped out of contention for a place in the U.S. 's ill-fated Ryder Cup team . Given his high profile and status within the golfing community , much of the media attention in the run up to the Ryder Cup focused on Woods ' absence . Being a star that transcends her own sport in a similar manner , Vonn can empathize as to the added pressure that the unflinching glare of the spotlight can bring . `` For us , we 're just two athletes trying to do the best we can in our sports , '' she said . `` There 's other stuff that goes along with it for both of us , there 's media and stuff like that . '' Vonn recently criticized a satirical article published in the Golf Digest magazine that poked fun at Woods . She said she was proud of her boyfriend for taking a stand in criticizing the piece and described much of the reaction surrounding his response as `` completely ridiculous '' in quotes carried by USA Today . Vonn is more laid back discussing media relations today . Although not directly referring to that incident in particular , she said the attention is `` all part of sports and part of being a successful athlete . We both understand that and take it in our stride . '' A chipper Vonn even revealed the celebrity pair are intensively competitive with one another . Responding to a question on whether her golf is better than Tiger 's skiing , Vonn said that was perhaps too difficult to say . `` It 's tricky -- I have a hole in one . But he 's a pretty good skier . '' `` We 're highly competitive . We 're competing at every single thing that we can . And unfortunately he holds the record in ping-pong . `` I have only one victory to I do n't know how many hundreds he has . '' `` He 's pretty much better than me at everything , except skiing , so unfortunately he 's the winner of the two of us . ''
Tiger Woods reveals boyfriend Lindsey Vonn has helped her through injury rehab . Four -time World Cup has missed much of the last two ski seasons due to serious knee injuries . Sochi will make return to competitive skiing action in today .