Lindsey Vonn finishes 24th in downhill in her first race since announcing her comeback at age 40
COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colorado — Lindsey Vonn finished 24th Saturday in a lower-level FIS downhill race as she returned from retirement to compete for the first time in almost six years.
Vonn, 40, is on the comeback path after stepping away from the sport due to injuries. She finished 1.44 seconds behind the winning time of 1 minute 5.79 seconds posted by Austrian Mirjam Puchner. There were 43 runners who competed on a cool but mostly sunny day.
Moments after crossing the finish line, Vonn leaned down to catch her breath. She then walked toward the crowd to sign autographs and pose for photos before taking the ski lifts back up the mountain.
A second downhill is planned for later Saturday and two super-G competitions on Sunday. Vonn is competing in a series of FIS races in an effort to achieve the results needed to lower her ranking so she can potentially compete in this season’s World Cup events.
When she left the sport, Vonn’s 82 World Cup victories were the most for a woman and within reach of the all-time mountaineering record of 86 held by Swedish star Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s mark held by Vonn was surpassed in January 2023 by Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has 99 victories, more than any alpine skier in the history of the sport.
Shiffrin is currently sidelined after a accident during giant slalom event in Killington, Vermontlast weekend. The next World Cup races for the women’s circuit will take place in a week near Beaver Creek, Colorado. Vonn has not announced a timetable for her return to the World Cup stage.
Vonn’s last major race was in February 2019, when she finished third in the downhill at the world championships in Sweden. The triple Olympic medalist left the circuit still at the top of her game. But all the broken arms and legs, concussions and torn knee ligaments took too much out of her and put her into retirement.
She underwent a partial knee replacement last April and felt well enough to give racing another chance.
There were some big names in the field on Saturday, including Switzerland’s Michelle Gisin, Italy’s Federica Brignone and Marta Bassino, and Austria’s Cornelia Huetter. Sarah Schleper, 45, also competed for the United States but now represents Mexico.
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