06-08-2025
Lindsey Vonn's Comeback Is Winning 40-Something Fans. Can She Win Gold?
When the Olympic ski racing champion Lindsey Vonn ended a five-year retirement to launch a conspicuous and successful comeback last winter at the age of 40, she noticed a major change in her interactions with the public. In airports, hotels and restaurants, she found herself being approached by people who knew little about sports, and absolutely nothing about ski racing.
What the people found irresistible was Vonn's new folk-hero status in the modern phenomenon of the aging professional athlete. And they felt a kinship with her ongoing quest.
'They were my age, and they'd say, 'I'm so proud you're trying again,' or, 'We're with you all the way,' ' Vonn said in an interview last week from Park City, Utah, where the United States ski team is based. 'That's when I knew this comeback wasn't about sports, and it was definitely more than just about me. It's about changing perspectives and setting a new standard for what it means to be older and an athlete. Especially if you're a woman.'
Foremost on Vonn's 2026 calendar will be the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, which begin Feb. 6 in Italy. If she stays healthy, Vonn is expected to compete for the American team in one or both of the most dangerous events: the downhill and super-G, where racing speeds reach 70 miles an hour.
That inherent peril is one reason that Vonn's comeback last season shocked even those in the daredevil world of elite ski racing. Some former colleagues from Europe called her 'crazy' and suggested that she see a psychologist. But Vonn, whose return was made possible by a partial knee replacement in 2024, finished in the top 10 of three World Cup races, and was the runner-up in her final competition in March. Similar results this season, or even a notch or two below that level, would place Vonn high enough in a points ranking system that she would qualify for the United States Olympic team.
Vonn, who turns 41 in October, will probably be the oldest athlete on the American Olympic team next year in any discipline, and if she is successful, she would be the oldest ski racer, man or woman, ever to win a medal.
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