THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
THE TRANSATLANTIC MAGAZINE
With the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics just a few weeks away the athletes are going through final preparations, as they complete their latest four-year cycle and have a chance for the ultimate gold medal. All the hours of work on the slopes and in the rinks will come down to just a few moments of – hopeful – perfection.
There are those, though, who have gone through more than that to get their shot at glory. Success for one particular athlete is just being there and having the chance to compete. On December 12, 2025 at St Moritz in Switzerland, the comeback was complete, at least for now, for Lindsey Vonn.
The American is one of the most decorated Alpine skiers in sports history, and at 41 she became the oldest athlete, male or female, to win a World Cup race when she won the Downhill, just a year after making her comeback into the sport.
In October 2018, she announced that she would retire from the sport after the 2018-2019 season, which would finish at the World Championships in February. The rigors of competition had taken their toll, and constant knee issues meant Vonn was not able to compete at the top level she had set for herself. Setting a high bar for that campaign, she wanted to start at Lake Louise, Alberta, in November, and Vonn entered the Super-G as well as being one of the favorites for the Downhill event. However, further knee problems meant that she had to pull away from these events, and subsequently delayed her retirement plans to February. In those World Championships, she won a bronze, the oldest to place on the podium at then 34, as well as being the first to place in six different World Championships.
Fast forward to November 2024, and after successful knee replacement surgery, she announced her competitive comeback. The following month, she was placed in the middle of the field in the St. Moritz Super-G. After a decent showing in both Downhill and Super-G, her comeback was on, but then she suffered some minor injuries in training. This did not put her off, and knowing she was showing good pace, she vowed to keep going through to the upcoming Games in Italy.
After her record-breaking 83rd World Cup win at St Moritz she said, "I knew I was skiing fast, but you never know until the first race. I think I was a little faster than I expected. It's a very exciting time. Obviously, my goal is Cortina, but if this is the way we start, I think I'm in a good spot."
A career that has spanned two decades and seen her win four World Cup titles may not result in an Olympic medal this time, but the very fact that Vonn is ready to compete again at that level is an achievement in itself, and the spark and ambition are clearly back. "The win means so much to me. I knew in the summer I was on the right path, and all the hard work has paid off. I thought I might retire after the last race of the Olympics, because I didn't think I'd be competitive for a title, but I might need to change my approach," she said.
As proof, she backed up the first place with a second the day after, missing out on top spot by just 0.24 seconds behind Germany’s Emma Aicher. "I fell on my hip in the middle of the course, and then I was off track for the bottom part of the course, where I skied so well yesterday. So it happens, that's ski racing... on to the next one." The next one was the Super-G and a fourth place. So, almost a trio of podiums on her first competitive weekend of the campaign, and if that form continues, then who would bet against the veteran making light work of one of her favorite slopes in Cortina in February, to claim what would be the most remarkable gold medal in dDownhill racing history.
Being part of the USA team means she has to take her fair share of light humor, "There's one girl [on the team] that calls me Grandma, which I don't exactly appreciate! But there's definitely some jokes around the team that, you know, I raced in my first Olympics before one of the girls was born." If those doing the joking are around in 20 years, then she would have proved to have been not just a serial winner but a true inspiration.
