At age 40, Lindsey Vonn is going to enter an official ski race for the first time in nearly six years this weekend.
Having already announced last month that she was coming out of retirement, Vonn will race lower-level FIS downhills and super-Gs on Saturday and Sunday, respectively, in Copper Mountain, Colorado, U.S. Ski Team head coach Paul Kristofic told The Associated Press.
Vonn needs some decent results to improve her long-dormant ranking so she can enter World Cup races this season under a new wild-card rule.
“Obviously her history speaks for itself and she’s definitely the most decorated speed skier out there and has done amazing things throughout her career,” Kristofic said Wednesday. “So it will be really, really fun and interesting to see what she can do.”
It’s likely that many of the current World Cup racers will be competing alongside Vonn at Copper Mountain.
Vonn is a three-time Olympic medalist, including a downhill gold at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
Her 82 World Cup race victories stood as the record for a woman until that total was eclipsed in January 2023 by fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin, who is still active and is now up to 99 wins – more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport.
Vonn’s last competition came in February 2019, after she dealt with a long series of injuries throughout her career.
There were broken arms and legs, torn knee ligaments, concussions and more.
Just this April, years after leaving the World Cup circuit, she had surgery for a partial knee replacement.
During training at Copper Mountain with the rest of the U.S. team, Kristofic said Vonn’s performance was “really promising.”
“It’s getting better every time she goes out on the hill. It’s been a lot of work to catch up after five years away. But she’s motivated and pushing hard and I think really enjoying it, too,” he said.
Can Vonn be competitive right away?
“I think it will be a building process,” Kristofic said. “The full race intensity is something that’s difficult to replicate. But I think if she stays healthy and continues to improve the way she is, I think she will be competitive.”
Vonn was not made available for comment following requests by The Associated Press.
