Gold Medal-winning U.S. skier LINDSEY VONN revealed that she has “quietly suffered from depression for many years and currently takes an anti-depressant to help manage her symptoms,” according to Elizabeth Leonard of PEOPLE. Vonn said, "Everything about my life seemed so perfect to people. But I struggle like everyone else." She added at one point in 08, she "couldn't get out of bed anymore. Vonn: "I felt hopeless, empty, like a zombie." But Leonard noted Vonn currently is “happier than she's been in a long time.” Vonn: "I feel like I just needed to get everything off my chest" (PEOPLE.com, 12/13).
MOVING ALONG SWIMMINGLY: ESPN THE MAGAZINE’s Wayne Drehs profiles Gold Medal-winning U.S. swimmer MISSY FRANKLIN and notes since the London Games, she has appeared on "The Tonight Show," as well as “the red carpet of MTV's Video Music Awards and the Glamour Awards.” She also has “taped a guest appearance on her favorite show,” ABC Family's "Pretty Little Liars," as well as “a scene in the upcoming VINCE VAUGHN/OWEN WILSON flick ‘The Internship.’" Franklin said, "It all seems insane. Totally crazy. It still doesn't feel real. It's like I made the whole thing up." Drehs notes seemingly “everywhere she goes, Franklin causes a scene.” It happened at a Broncos game, where this season Franklin and her parents “needed security to reach their seats.” Security “now needs to be alerted when the Franklins arrive” at church, and the “same thing happens when Missy goes through Denver International Airport.” Mother D.A. FRANKLIN said that the “plan is for Missy to swim collegiately for two years and then turn professional in March 2015, some 15 months before Rio 2016.” At that point, she will “stay at Cal and swim” for Cal swim coach TERI MCKEEVER’s club team. The decision “will allow Franklin to cash in on potential marketing opportunities before, during and after the Games” (ESPN THE MAGAZINE, 12/10 issue).
SETTING THE BAR HIGH: Gold Medal-winning U.S. gymnast GABBY DOUGLAS appeared on ABC’s “The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012,” and host BARBARA WALTERS said, “I'm not sure why we are drawn to female ice skaters during the Winter Olympics and female gymnasts during the summer. We've certainly profiled our share of them on this show over the past 19 years. But I don’t recall anyone quite like Gabby Douglas, or a story quite like hers.” Walters asked Douglas, “Where you see yourself in five years?” Douglas said, “In four years, I hope to see myself do another Olympics. In five years, I don't think my brain can think that far ahead.” Walters said Douglas “now makes millions in endorsements, wants to pursue an acting career and has just released her memoir, volume one, I'm guessing” (“The 10 Most Fascinating People of 2012,” ABC, 12/12).
