On the age of 40 — and after 5 years in retirement — Lindsay Vonn returned to the racecourse on Saturday, Dec. 21, on the Stifel St. Moritz World Cup. The ski racing champion positioned 14th, crossing the end line simply 1.18 seconds behind Austrian winner Cornelia Hütter (32). Vonn mentioned she raced conservatively however appeared happy along with her efficiency.
“This was the proper begin,” Vonn informed AP Information. “At present, I actually wanted to get to the end. I needed to have a stable outcome. And that’s precisely what I did.”
Vonn beforehand held the file for essentially the most World Cup wins of any feminine alpine skier, with 82 to her profession. Her file has solely been surpassed by one different feminine racer, Mikaela Shiffrin, who now holds 99. Vonn informed France24 final week that she intends to return to her earlier degree of aggressive snowboarding, and he or she hopes to make the U.S. Olympic Ski Group for the 2024 Cortina Winter Olympic Video games.
“Life is just too quick to take a seat on the sidelines,” she wrote in an Instagram publish about popping out of retirement.
Saturday’s Tremendous-G Race was held on St. Moritz’s Corviglia course. Vonn’s ending time was lower than a second away from incomes her a spot on the rostrum, which was shared by heavyweight opponents Cornelia Hütter (32), Lara Intestine-Behrami (33), and Sofia Goggia (32). Vonn was scheduled to race once more on Sunday, however poor climate and windy situations canceled the race.
Vonn’s subsequent probability to race in a World Cup occasion and earn FIS factors towards making the Olympic Ski staff might be in January in St. Anton, Austria.
Lindsay Vonn: Aiming for Olympics
Over her profession, Vonn gained one Olympic gold medal, two bronze medals, and 20 World Cup titles, making the FIS Stifel World Cup podium over 130 instances. Nevertheless, after sustaining a number of accidents, Vonn left the game in 2019 on the age of 35.
In 2024, she bought a titanium knee substitute. Ten weeks later, she was snowboarding once more, coaching at Copper Mountain, Colo., and reportedly pain-free. Simply 8 months previous her surgical procedure, Vonn made her breakout debut on the world stage in St. Moritz.
Along with her Olympic and World Cup racing file, Vonn greater than meets the necessities for a Wild Card entry into the 2024 Cortina Winter Olympic Video games. All she wants are the FIS factors to qualify, which she is incomes via the Stifel FIS World Cup and different qualifying races.
Earlier this month, she competed in two super-G occasions in a lower-level competitors at Copper Mountain. She completed nineteenth and twenty fourth in these races.
“I do know my method again to a aggressive degree would possibly take a race or two, however I definitely intend on getting again to the place I used to be earlier than,” she informed France24.
Vonn plans to race once more on the Stifel FIS St. Anton World Cup in Austria on Jan. 11-12. The occasion will function each downhill and Tremendous-G races. Once more, she might be racing in opposition to among the most elite athletes presently competing within the sport. It is possible for you to to observe the race dwell and on-demand on skiandsnowboard.dwell.
No matter how Vonn performs in January, individuals had been excited to see her again on the racecourse this previous weekend.
“To have her again on the world stage is simply incredible,” Sophie Goldschmidt, president and CEO of U.S. Ski and Snowboard, informed AP Information. “Simply the eye she’s bringing to the game and the function mannequin she is — it’s a giant day.”
