Inside Lindsey Vonn’s stunning skiing comeback at 41 after USA great clinches Winter Olympics place
Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic career was supposed to be done years ago.
After winning bronze in the downhill at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang on a ski slope that no longer exists, the American speed queen was supposed to gracefully bow out with one more accomplishment to her name.
Even when she announced her second-career comeback at the age of 40, there was significant doubt whether the Minnesota native could keep up on the slopes long enough – or if her body could stay healthy enough – to be even within shouting distance of qualifying for the Olympics.
Five races was all she needed. The woman that took gold in Vancouver will wear the Olympic rings once more.
After a summer of intense training to hone her body back into an alpine torpedo, Vonn has accumulated enough points to book a ticket to her fifth Winter Olympic Games this February at Cortina d’Ampezzo in northern Italy.
Vonn hadn’t won on the World Cup since a trip to Åre in Sweden in 2018. In her first event of the 2025-26 season, she beat Austria’s Magdalena Egger on the slopes of St. Moritz to take the downhill crown and become the oldest World Cup winner ever.
American ski icon Lindsey Vonn has secured her place at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy
Vonn won her first event in seven years in the downhill at St. Moritz just weeks ago
Her foot has stayed on the gas pedal and she’s now climbed to the top of the standings in the downhill – officially confirming her entry to the games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo
The next day, she finished second in the downhill. Then fourth in the Super-G the day after that. A jaunt to Val d’Isere in France yielded a pair of third-place finishes in the downhill and the Super-G.
It was enough. Olympic qualifying grants places to anyone who wears the red bib as the FIS points leader in any of the four disciplines (Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom, and Slalom).
Vonn’s downhill prowess has her firmly ahead of second-place skier Emma Aicher by nearly 70 points. Her comeback is now complete.
‘What I did wasn’t easy,’ Vonn told SKI Magazine in a reflection of her career. ‘There aren’t words to quantify how hard it was for as long as I did it.’
When she retired in 2019, Vonn had spent decades in the American sporting consciousness as possibly the greatest the country could ever produce.
Off the slope, Vonn gained fame through her work as a model, endorsements from the likes of Rolex and Red Bull, and her high-profile dating endeavors with the likes of Tiger Woods and hockey star PK Subban.
But injuries began to pile up. She capped off her final season without winning gold at a World Cup event and seemed set for a life out of the competitive sphere until announcing her comeback in 2024.
Throughout her 2024-25 season, Vonn suffered multiple DNF’s. When she did complete races, the results often lacked that characteristic dominance worthy of a woman who retired as the all-time winningest woman on the slopes (she has since been passed by countrywoman Mikaela Shiffrin).
Vonn is one of the most dominant skiers America ever produced and became an off-piste icon
Her endorsements, modeling career and high-profile relationships with the likes of Tiger Woods kept her in the public consciousness long after the Olympics came and went
But at age 40, she committed to a comeback – making one podium last season in Idaho (above)
The height of her comeback year came in Idaho when she finished second in the Super-G for the season final.
It was a strong start for Vonn. To be away from the sport for five seasons and then choosing to return at 40 was admirable. But to return to the Olympics required a level of dominance beyond what she showed.
The real work began in the preseason. Vonn said she got into ‘possibly the best shape I’ve ever been in’ adding, ‘My body doesn’t hurt, so that’s the best part of all.’
For months, she committed to re-building the strength she felt she lacked in her 2024-25 return season.
‘My goal was to get a lot stronger this summer,’ she said. ‘I was thinner than I would have liked last season. I was still quite a bit lighter than I was when I was racing in my prime.’
However, after ‘a lot of hard work’, Vonn says she was ‘able to gain about 12 pounds’ over her offseason.
‘I was probably the most disciplined I’ve ever been with my diet and just how I approached the entire summer,’ said the three-time Olympic medalist.
‘I put everything I had into being as physically prepared as possible.’
To realize her dream of an Olympic comeback, Vonn pushed herself in preseason training
That push has led to strong results in the downhill and the Super-G across five races
Vonn has made the podium in four of those races, truly marking the return of the Speed Queen
Now, Vonn’s sights can be set to becoming the oldest skier in Olympic history to win a medal
Determined to reach a fifth games, Vonn’s intense summer produced the necessary results. In St. Mortiz, her win in the downhill came almost a full second ahead of Egger. The only race she hasn’t finished on the podium came after she finished just 0.08 seconds behind Italy’s Sofia Goggia.
There will be further tests: Zauchensee in Austria, Tarvisio in Italy and a return to Switzerland at Crans-Montana.
But Vonn’s dream of an Olympic comeback is secured. Now, she goes to a race course where she’s won 11 times in her accomplished career.
There’s even further glory to be had in Italy. If she finishes atop the podium, Vonn will become the oldest alpine skier – man or woman – in history to win an Olympic medal.
But in a sport that is as elements-dependent as alpine skiing, nothing is certain.
‘You could get one gust of wind and your Olympic dreams are over,’ Vonn told SKI Magazine. ‘It’s not easy to win when you’re expected to win.
‘But I will do the best I can with the cards that I’m dealt, and hopefully I’ll get a little luck.’
