SUN VALLEY, Idaho — Lindsey Vonn’s return to the podium — six years since stepping away from ski racing, 11 months since her partial knee replacement, four months since announcing her return — hit her hard in the finish area.
Struggling to catch her breath, but still managing the energy to raise her ski poles in celebration, the tears fell. They were for joy and relief that she could even make it back to the World Cup circuit. They were for the satisfaction of proving all her doubters wrong. They were, she explained, for showing “this adventure that I set myself on is worth something.”
Vonn concluded her comeback season at age 40 with a second-place finish in a World Cup super-G race Sunday that was won by Swiss standout Lara Gut-Behrami. Vonn became the oldest female Alpine ski racer to step on the podium of a World Cup race — by six years.
“It was (expletive) hard,” Vonn said. “This is not easy what I’m doing. It just felt really good to say I did it. That I can still do it.”
Vonn found her vintage form while flying down the twisting and steep Challenger course at World Cup finals. The 82-time World Cup winner — along with three-time Olympic medalist — glanced at the scoreboard and soaked in the roar of the large crowd.
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It’s a moment she will cherish.
“Age is just a number,” Vonn said. “If you feel good and you’re mentally still driven and you work hard, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.”
She was motivated by the doubters, too — those who criticized her making a return.
“Sometimes the negative voices, they drive me more than the positive ones,” Vonn said. “I use all that as fuel. It propelled me through some tough times this year. I knew that I could do it.
“When I crossed the finish line, there’s a lot of relief to be where I know I can be and to silence so many negative voices that have just been surrounding me, it feels like, all season. It was just a nice exclamation point to put on the season.”
This was Vonn’s first World Cup podium spot since March 15, 2018, when she finished third in a super-G in Are, Sweden. A year later in Are, she earned downhill bronze at the world championships before calling it a career in large part because of her knee.
Vonn received a titanium knee last April and was feeling so good that she announced in November her plans for a return.
“I just continue to prove that anything is possible,” Vonn said. “I’ve been knocked down so many times in my life personally, physically, mentally, beat down and I always pick myself back up. It’s not always easy.
“It’s actually really (expletive) hard work. But that’s what it takes, putting one foot in front of the other and getting through the hard days. When you keep putting one foot in front of the other, it leads you to a place like today.”
Before the race, her father, Alan Kildow, took her by the arm and just said, “fearless.”
She listened.
“Of all the races, of all the courses she’s been on, this one really suits her,” Kildow said of the redesigned Sun Valley course. “A very clean, technically sound run could go a long way. She skied it like she had to.”
It was Vonn’s 138th career World Cup podium in her 408th World Cup start. She is within one of tying the most starts by a female Alpine racer, a mark held by Renate Goetschl of Austria.
One skier not surprised by Vonn’s success is 34-year-old Italian racer Federica Brignone.
“She’s Lindsey Vonn,” said Brignone, who officially clinched the downhill discipline Saturday after the race was canceled, along with the the overall crown. “She’s not somebody coming back from another injury. She has qualities and she’s an amazing champion. Today, she put all the pieces (together) and did an amazing race.”
Gut-Behrami finished in a time of 1 minute, 12.35 seconds — edging Vonn by 1.29 seconds — to earn the season-long super-G crystal globe by overtaking Brignone. Gut-Behrami trailed by five points heading into Sunday’s race. Gut-Behrami found plenty of speed and took some calculated risks to glide through the course. Brignone finished third, 1.33 seconds behind Gut-Behrami.
The final season-long super-G standings ended up Gut-Behrami, Brignone and Sofia Goggia of Italy.
“Two days ago, I finally found the happiness again on skis,” Gut-Behrami explained. “It’s easier to ski fast when you’re enjoying what you’re doing. I’ve been looking for that the entire season.”
The next race at World Cup finals is Tuesday with a women’s giant slalom.
For Vonn, the season is over. Her plan is to rest a few weeks and then head to Europe for more testing of her ski equipment.
“I literally gave every single last ounce of energy that I had in the last race of the season,” Vonn explained. “I could barely breathe (at the finish), maybe because I was crying.
“It was a great race.”
