Vonn on Tiger: 'I decide what happens in my life'

Tiger Woods may be the man in charge on the golf course but — when it comes to his relationship with Lindsey Vonn off the links, he should know one thing— nobody messes with the strong-willed Olympic skier.

Looking back at the important men in her life — like her father, ex-husband and Tiger — Vonn told the sports magazine The Red Bulletin that she's her own person.

"Tiger is a strong character, but I decide what happens in my life," proclaimed Vonn. "Even Tiger isn’t going to change that." 

Vonn admitted her golfer boyfriend does help make her a better competitor though.

"A better athlete, I would say, yes. One example: I wouldn’t say I’m unprofessional, but the consistency that Tiger shows in his professionalism – wow. No one has any idea how hard Tiger works. Tiger says he wants to be fitter than all the others, that’s his way. So he pushes himself a lot further than he perhaps needs to, and to see that pushes me in turn. The other unbelievable thing about Tiger is his mental toughness. There were moments in golf tournaments where I said to myself, 'Okay, Lindsey, this is the next level of self-confidence, concentration, control. When you make it to this level, it will make you a better skier.'"

The 2010 Olympic downhill champ, has hit the slopes again after injuring a knee to see if she’s healthy enough to compete in February’s Olympics. The mag's photo spread proves Vonn's back in top shape.

Vonn goes on to say she tries not to think about the accident that sidelined her during the Alpine World Ski Championships in February. She has, however, watched it "a few times" on YouTube. "I wanted to know if it looked the way it felt," she says, noting that seeing it again made her "pissed."

"It looked exactly the way it felt," she explains. "My right ski came to a stop in the soft snow, my lower leg twisted to the right, my body fell over my knee, which dislocated."

There is a silver lining to her story, however: taking a break from training gave Vonn a better understanding of her body's limitations. "Before, I could always push my way through injury, but I couldn't this time. For the first time I had an injury which was greater than my will," she tells the magazine.

"In the first three weeks that was extremely hard to accept. I couldn't do anything. I couldn't go get a coffee. I could only sit. There was no pushing—only waiting."