Lindsey Vonn is returning to World Cup racing and the US ski team

Five years after retiring from World Cup ski racing, Lindsey Vonn is rejoining the U.S. ski team.

The three-time Olympic medalist, who claimed gold in downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games, left the sport with 82 World Cup victories — second only to Ingemar Stenmark at the time. She is now 40 years old.

In a U.S. ski team press release, Vonn, who grew up training in Vail after moving from Minnesota, said her decision to try and return to ski racing comes after careful consideration following successful knee surgery earlier this year. She has been able to get back to training and test her knee over the past couple of months and will be continuing her progression with the U.S. ski team in Colorado and beyond.

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In an interview with the The New York Times, Vonn said: “I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself because I have quite a few hoops to jump through. Obviously, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t hope to be racing. I have aspirations. I love to go fast. How fast can I go? I don’t know. But I’m not going to put myself in a position to fail. My goal is to enjoy this, and hopefully, that road takes me to World Cup races. I wouldn’t be back on the U.S. ski team if I didn’t have intentions.”

She claimed her first World Cup victory in 2004 and went on to win four World Cup overall titles, eight world championship medals, 137 World Cup podiums, and 82 World Cup victories. Forty-three of those World Cup wins came in downhill, while 28 came in super-G.

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However, she suffered multiple injuries from a series of spectacular crashes during her career, which eventually pushed her into retirement after 18 seasons on the World Cup tour.

Following a partial knee replacement surgery in April, she said she feels stronger than ever. She told The New York Times’ Bill Pennington that she completed 15 days of on-snow race training in Europe and New Zealand since August and said she would participate in the U.S. ski team’s training sessions at Copper Mountain in Colorado that start on Saturday.

She also has her sights set on the women’s World Cup races in Beaver Creek on Dec. 14 and 15, possibly as a forerunner, and returning to her fifth Olympics in Italy in 15 months. The races for the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, a track where Vonn claimed 12 World Cup wins from 2008 to 2018.

Mikaela Shiffrin, who grew up in Eagle County and calls Edwards home, has since surpassed Vonn and Stenmark and is just three wins shy of 100 career World Cup wins.

“Getting back to skiing without pain has been an incredible journey,” Vonn said in the press release. “I am looking forward to being back with the Stifel U.S. Ski Team and to continue to share my knowledge of the sport with these incredible women.”

She hasn’t been quiet since leaving the sport. She became the first woman to ski the Streif downhill course, taking in the 85% gradient in Kitzbühel, Austria, in the dark in January 2023.

Rumors of Vonn’s return circulated after the 40-year-old was spotted training in New Zealand and in Soelden, Austria. She told The New York Times that she “retired with no intention of coming back” but was surprisingly pain-free after her most recent partial right-knee replacement procedure in the spring. According to the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Press release, she “feels stronger than ever.”

“Lindsey has made an indelible mark on alpine skiing and our organization throughout her career. We’re delighted to welcome her back,” said President and CEO of U.S. Ski & Snowboard Sophie Goldschmidt. “Her dedication and passion toward alpine skiing is inspiring, and we’re excited to have her back on snow and see where she can go from here.”

While Vonn is back with the team, it is not clear yet which races she will be aiming to enter. The 2024 Birds of Prey event in Beaver Creek will feature men’s and women’s World Cup races on back-to-back weekends, offering the potential for her and Shiffrin to compete head-to-head in front of a home audience.

The International Ski and Snow Federation implemented a wildcard rule allowing former champions to acquire a starting bib for races without having to regain ranking points in lower-level events. Eight-time overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher took advantage of the new rule, competing in the Soelden season-opener after a five-year hiatus.

“Lindsey is someone who has really been there for me throughout my time on the World Cup circuit,” current U.S. ski team athlete Bella Wright said in the press release. “I never got the opportunity to be Lindsey’s teammate in the past, so the opportunity to ski alongside her is extremely exciting. I can’t wait to see what the U.S. women can do this season.”