The Alpine Ski Ladies’ World Cup was held in Lake Louise this weekend, and an American superstar in the sport sails to the top of the podium, but that wasn’t the case this year, much to the disappointment of a 12-year-old fan.

Sierra Kylee Coe has watched Lindsey Vonn’s career intently and even met her at the age of four in Lake Louise.

“We started keeping in touch ever since and now I’m 12 years old.”

Coe says that the competition in Lake Louise is much lower key than the rest of the circuit because there aren’t as many people and fans actually have the opportunity to chat with the racers.

“It just really nice and quiet and it has a lot of really experience racers and that’s cool to see. Especially for younger kids.”

She was looking forward to a reunion with her ski champion friend this year, but that wasn’t to be.

Vonn took a tumble just ahead of the Lake Louise race and wasn’t able to compete.

Coe says that she’s disappointed to hear the news but she is sure that Vonn is feeling it too.

“For her to be injured and not to be able to come to this race, it’s really sad for her to miss it because it’s her retirement and all her fans are here. A lot of them live in Canada.”

Vonn, speaking on her YouTube channel, said that she’s very disappointed that she wasn’t able to compete in her final year in Lake Louise.

She says that Lake Louise has a special place in her heart because it’s her own place and she would normally never miss out on the race, especially to see Sierra.

“I’ve got kids that come back to that race for the last eight years to see me. I’ve developed a really good relationship with those kids. There’s this really cute girl Sierra and I literally hoisted her up on my shoulders and I carried her into the finish area and we’ve been in touch ever since. Now she’s 13, an avid racer and she wants to be me.”

Vonn also says that she will make a return to Lake Louise to compete in the World Cup race in 2019.

“I need to come back, I know I’ve said many times that I’m not going to come back because my body can’t handle any more, but I was also planning on racing Lake Louise.”

Lake Louise Ski Resort also named a run after Lindsey Vonn this year.

(With files from Brad MacLeod)