Lindsey Vonn is rewriting ski history again — this time as a 41-year-old comeback queen who just crushed a World Cup downhill in St. Moritz and became the oldest skier ever to win a World Cup race.
A Legendary Return Turns Historic
Just a few years ago, Lindsey Vonn could barely get through a short hike because of chronic knee pain and arthritis. She officially retired in 2019, her right knee so damaged that everyday life felt harder than Olympic training ever did.
In 2023, she underwent a
partial knee replacement — a robot-assisted surgery that removed the damaged part of her knee and replaced it with titanium and a plastic meniscus. That procedure, customized to preserve as much healthy tissue as possible, changed everything. Vonn has said that now,
“my body doesn’t hurt, so that’s the best part of all.”She quietly plotted a comeback, rejoining the U.S. Ski Team in fall 2024 and returning to World Cup racing in December 2024 after nearly six years away from the circuit. By March 23, 2025, she was already back on the podium with a super-G result in Sun Valley.
But what she did in St. Moritz in December 2025 stunned even optimists.
Dominating St. Moritz: A Win Seven Years in the Making
At the opening women’s downhill of the 2025–26 World Cup season in St. Moritz, Vonn didn’t just win — she
obliterated the field.
- She finished
0.98 seconds ahead of Austria’s Magdalena Egger, a massive margin at this level.
- It was her
first World Cup victory since 2018 in Åre — a gap of seven years, eight months, and 29 days.
- At
41 years old, she became the
oldest skier ever to win a World Cup race, men or women, according to race coverage.
Vonn was skiing so fast she could barely stop at the finish, crashing into the barriers while punching the air in celebration. At first, she didn’t even realize she’d won because she was “stuck in the banner.”
Once it sank in, she made it clear this wasn’t luck — it was a meticulous project.
> “We worked really hard, not just me but my whole team, from the equipment, physical training, and also we hired Aksel [Lund Svindal, as coach]. Systematically, every single thing I could do to be faster, I did.”
Her win opens the 2025–26 season — the lead-up to the 2026 Winter Olympics — with a jolt. One outlet described it as
“making history” and
“opening the 2026 Olympic season” in emphatic fashion.
Chasing Records, Again
Even before this comeback, Vonn was already a statistical monster. Now she’s pushing her numbers into almost untouchable territory.
- The St. Moritz win moves her to
139 World Cup podiums, putting her
third all-time, ahead of Marcel Hirscher. Only
Mikaela Shiffrin and
Ingemar Stenmark are still above her.
- With her next start, she is set to make her
410th World Cup appearance, breaking the record of 409 starts she shared with Austria’s Renate Götschl.
She joked that she now needs to update the number on all her hats, which still read
82 — a nod to her pre-retirement World Cup win total.
Inside the Comeback Machine: Svindal, Science, and Sheer Stubbornness
This version of Vonn isn’t just relying on raw talent and aggression. Her team has turned her comeback into a highly engineered project.
Key pieces of the puzzle:
-
Partial knee replacement in 2023 allowed her to train at full intensity without crippling pain.
-
Aksel Lund Svindal, fellow Olympic champion and former rival, joined as her coach, bringing what she calls a “calm energy” that balances her intensity.
- A deliberate, science-driven approach to equipment, conditioning, and recovery —
“every single thing I could do to be faster, I did.”Svindal admitted even he was surprised by how nervous he felt watching her race — and by the sheer level of her performance.
Her rivals noticed too. Italy’s Sofia Goggia said she expected Vonn to be strong but
not nearly a full second ahead of the field, calling herself “really impressed.”
Fuelled by Doubt — Again
If you’ve followed Lindsey Vonn’s career, you know: doubt is gasoline for her.
After the win, she openly thanked her critics:
> “All the people who didn’t believe in me, I have to thank them, because it gives me a lot of motivation… Every time they talk bad about me it makes me stronger, better, more motivated. So I’d love for people to keep coming at me.”
That edge isn’t just talk. It’s part of what made her willing to attempt a comeback at age 40 after nearly six years out of the sport — something more extreme than high-profile returns by stars like Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Michael Phelps, who all came back after far shorter breaks and far fewer surgeries.
What This Means for the 2025–26 Season — and the 2026 Olympics
Vonn has said this is her
last year of racing, and that this weekend in St. Moritz would be her final one at the Swiss resort. But her win may already be forcing a rethink.
- She admitted that this result might
change her plans for the winter, because she didn’t expect to be competitive for a title.
- She’s especially excited about
super-G, saying she’s skiing better there than even in downhill.
- The St. Moritz weekend includes another downhill and a super-G, where she is expected to go head-to-head with
Mikaela Shiffrin, adding a blockbuster narrative to the season.
Her immediate priority, though, is as practical as ever: conserve energy, sleep, and treat the long weekend like the veteran she is.
Why Vonn’s Win Hits Different
Comebacks in sports are nothing new. Michael Jordan, Tom Brady, and Michael Phelps all famously stepped away and then returned to win again. But Vonn’s story has some crucial twists:
- She came back at
40, not in her early or mid-30s.
- She was out of elite competition for nearly
six years.
- She returned after
multiple major injuries and a
partial knee replacement, in a sport that chews up joints even when you’re young.
Winning again under those conditions — and winning by almost a second — doesn’t just extend her legend. It forces a rethinking of what is physically and mentally possible for aging athletes in high-impact sports.
For younger racers, her St. Moritz run is a warning shot. For everyone else, it’s something rarer: a late-career reinvention that feels almost unreal, even for someone who has built a career out of redefining the limits.
Sources
1. Lindsey Vonn wins downhill in St. Moritz to continue ...
2. 41-year-old Vonn makes history with overwhelming ...
3. Vonn Wins in St. Moritz
4. Lindsey Vonn Makes History, Wins World Cup Downhill at 41
