Dog lover Lindsey Vonn is helping Olympians mentally prepare for Tokyo with emotional support puppies

• Lindsey Vonn is a noted dog lover - and she even brought her dog to the Olympics in 2018.
• The superstar ski racer is helping bring emotional support dogs to Olympians preparing for Tokyo.
• "When you're with your dog, everything is simple," Vonn told Insider. "It makes you happier."

Lindsey Vonn knows first-hand just how much strain is placed on athletes competing at the Olympic games.

She also knows first-hand just how much support dogs can help alleviate that burden.

The three-time Olympic medalist ski racer has teamed up with Allianz to help share the benefits of puppy love with some of the athletes preparing for this summer's Tokyo Olympics. Vonn is connecting the financial service company's Support Dog Squad - a pack of more than 50 trained emotional support pooches from non-profit organizations Love on 4 Paws and Little Angels - to a group of skateboarders training in Los Angeles for their Olympic debuts.

"Dogs provide an incredible source of support emotionally and mentally," Vonn told Insider. "I think it's exactly what these athletes are going to need going into these Olympics."

For the first time ever, skateboarding is one of the many sports included in the Olympic games. The stress of preparing for the unprecedented combined with the struggle of training in isolation due to the pandemic has undoubtedly taken quite an emotional toll on these soon-to-be Olympians.

Vonn and Allianz are hopeful that the Support Dog Squad will help these skateboarders - including Brazil's Leticia Bufoni and the United States' Dashawn Jordan - reduce their stress, anxiety, and loneliness before departing for Tokyo.

"There's so much pressure, there's so much media, there's all this buzz and hype and energy," Vonn said. "And when you're with your dog, everything is simple. The world is very simple. It makes you happier."

"For me, that's always what I needed to keep my perspective and be happy every day, no matter what the outcome," she added.

Vonn took that sentiment to the next level towards the end of her illustrious alpine skiing career. Ahead of the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, the then-34-year-old flew to South Korea with one of her three dogs - a King Charles Cavalier named Lucy - in tow.

"It was hard for me to get her there, but she was a trooper," Vonn said. "I mean, she flew 16 hours. No problem. She didn't even pee on the plane!"

The long trip and logistical nightmare were well worth it.

As she got older and her career was coming to its natural close, Vonn said "traveling and being away from home for so long... was getting to me" more and more. But having Lucy to come home to after every stressful race or trying training session was "exactly what I needed to be mentally prepared for the Olympics."

"My dogs don't know I ski. They don't care," Vonn said. "They're happy to see me as all dogs are when you walk through the door. They're always excited. And that kind of emotional support is what I really needed at the time."

Bufoni and Jordan seem to have similarly benefitted from their experiences with the Support Dog Squad so far. In a clip published by Allianz, both skateboarders appeared elated as they got acquainted with their new furry friends.

Check out the video below: