“Just trying to figure out what time zone I’m in…” the skiing legend posted while sharing a moment with Coco Gauff. The two American champions were photographed together again this week — a familiar crossover that TNT Sports labeled “a link-up of champions.”
Vonn has been a regular in New York tennis circles. She was at the US Open around finals weekend, mixing Gucci looks, gym sessions, and recovery work after her brutal 2026 Olympic crash. Gauff, coming off a deep run that ended in the semifinals against Elena Rybakina, has long exchanged support with Vonn across injuries, slams, and comebacks.
The pair’s friendship isn’t new. Vonn has publicly backed Gauff after tough US Open exits; Gauff has replied to Vonn’s Olympic heartbreak and rehab posts with short, sincere notes (“So inspiring,” “amazing”). They’ve posed together at events like TIME Women of the Year and crossed paths at tournaments including Madrid. The latest photo simply adds another chapter.
Vonn, 41, is still in the middle of a long recovery — multiple surgeries, a visible scar from the tibia/fibula/ankle damage in Cortina, and a planned ACL procedure later this year. She has been splitting time between training, travel, and public appearances while repeating the same message: one step at a time. The time-zone joke fits the pattern — a champion who keeps moving even when her body and calendar are fighting her.
Gauff, 22, is in a different phase: two majors already, a Cincinnati title this summer, and a US Open campaign that showed both progress and the remaining gap to the very top. Their shared photos keep landing because they represent the same thing from opposite ends of a career — elite talent that refuses to stay in one lane.
That’s the moment Vonn shared. Two champions, different sports, same frequency — and at least one of them still trying to remember what time it is.
