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When Lindsey Vonn made the choice to take a five-year retirement and return to skiing before the 2024-2025 season, she didn’t necessarily think she’d be adding more crystal balls to her collection.
Vonn was just happy that surgery to place titanium implants in her right knee allowed her to reopen the door on a final chapter in her skiing career.
The goal? Qualify for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Games where she would look to add another medal to her collection. She previously won Vancouver 2010 downhill gold (the first for an American woman), Vancouver 2010 super-G bronze and Pyeongchang 2018 downhill bronze.
On Friday in St. Moritz, Vonn took her first downhill victory in almost eight years and her first podium finish at the summit since returning from retirement, by as much as 0.98 seconds over second-place Magdalena Egger. Vonn previously finished second in a World Cup race in Sun Valley.
The win took her to a jump first in the world downhill rankings and 16th overall. Vonn owns many hats that say “82,” indicating that she has 82 World Cup victories. She will have to have a few made that say 83.
It was also at St. Moritz in 2024 that Vonn made her first start after returning from retirement. In a revision of the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup in July 2024, FIS has added a wildcard option that guarantees returning World Cup racers a starting position beyond the top 30.
However, Vonn has proven that she is still in a position to be the favorite.
It looks very likely that we will see Vonn racing in Cortina. And if she keeps this up, Vonn might decide to finish out the rest of the World Cup season when a possible ninth title is on the line, adding to her record eight season titles in the downhill discipline (2008-2013, 2015, 2016).
Vonn initially planned to retire after the last race in Milano Cortina… but why curtail this great comeback?
With the victory, Vonn, 41, makes history as the oldest winner of a World Cup race by quite a few years; Swiss Didier Cuche, at 37, previously held the title. The oldest female winner ever, at 34 years old, was Italy’s Federica Brignone.
With a reconstructed knee and a new coach in Aksel Lund Svindal, 2018 Pyeongchang gold medalist in downhill, Lindsey Vonn proves she is still the reigning speed queen.
What’s next for Vonn? Before she leaves St. Moritz, she will compete in super-G… a discipline in which she says she can ski better than downhill. If so, maybe she should wait to order new hats.
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