The 40-year-old American announced in the New York Times that she is joining the US ski team and wants to race again – perhaps as early as mid-December in Beaver Creek.
Lindsey Vonn has won three Olympic medals in her career so far.
The World Cup winter is only one race weekend old, and old certainties in the ski circuit are already being thrown around like flakes in a snowstorm: After Marcel Hirscher and Lucas Braathen, Lindsey Vonn is also returning to the racing slopes. As of now, she is back on the US team and is preparing to compete in World Cup races.
Rumors about a comeback for the 40-year-old have been circulating for a long time. She didn’t hide the fact that she was training again with ambition. Most protagonists from the ski scene dismissed this as a vying for attention or a crazy idea. Lindsey Vonn received an artificial knee joint seven months ago. Exposing yourself to the forces that work in a World Cup downhill race with one of these is something that no one has ever tried to do before.
Number 2 among women in the all-time best list
Now, Vonn is not a person who has ever let anything stop her. Her ambition to break records and make skiing history drove the speed specialist throughout her entire career. She still holds various records in the World Cup, for example for the most crystal balls (20) or the most overall victories in the Downhill World Cup (8). With 82 World Cup victories, she is number 2 in the women’s all-time best list, behind Mikaela Shiffrin.
And the artificial knee joint? Is the reason why a comeback for Vonn became an issue in the first place. When she resigned five and a half years ago, she did so because her body couldn’t take it anymore. She constantly drove in pain; her uncompromising, full-throttle mentality often landed her in the hospital.
A dose of Monday motivation from Lindsey Vonn 💪🌞
Via IG / @lindseyvonn pic.twitter.com/jacWubQDaq
— Eurosport (@eurosport) November 4, 2024
She now told the New York Times what a drastic change the operation last April had made on her. A month after the procedure, she was able to straighten her right knee for the first time in ten years. “Everything felt so different.”
During training in New Zealand, she was able to do 15 runs a day without pain for the first time in around 15 years. She knows the risk of racing down the mountain again at 120 km/h. “No one is immune to the dangers of downhill skiing, but I love it and am willing to take the risk.”
Tips from Roger Federer and Olympic plans
Vonn’s return became more realistic thanks to the green card rule that was introduced by the world association FIS this season: it allows former drivers to race in a comeback with a start number just after the top 30 and saves them from collecting points smaller races. The women’s speed season begins December 14th with a downhill run at Beaver Creek. A week later, two Super-Gs will take place in St. Moritz.
Vonn also does not rule out taking part in the Olympic Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo in February 2026. She has won a race there twelve times. At the moment she cannot say whether starting the Olympics is a possibility. “But I think everyone knows how much I love Cortina.”
And then there is Roger Federer. The two have been friends for a long time, and as they make their comeback, Vonn recalls a conversation with him about the right time to retire. He said: “I squeezed every last drop out of the lemon. There was nothing left that I could have given.” She also did that in her career. But now she feels: There is still some juice in the lemon.
