Lindsey Vonn in action at Beaver Creek in the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships, where she won bronze in super-G (Matt Inden photo).
Former Vail resident Lindsey Vonn, a local legend whose name replaced the “International” ski-racing trail moniker on Vail Mountain, is coming out of retirement at age 40 as nearby Beaver Creek readies its famed Birds of Prey World Cup run for women’s speed events next month.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard on Thursday issued a press release on the all-time World Cup ski-racing great Vonn, 40, rejoining the U.S. Ski Team ahead of a first-ever women’s regular-season speed events (downhill and super-G) on the world-renowned and extremely challenging Birds of Prey course in Beaver Creek Dec. 14-15.
“We are very excited to see Lindsey Vonn return to the Stifel U.S. Alpine Team. We would certainly welcome her taking part in the Stifel Birds of Prey Audi FIS Alpine World Cup at Beaver Creek Dec. 14-15 in any capacity, including as an athlete or an ambassador for the sport,” Tom Horrocks, Birds of Prey Alpine World Cup Chief of Media, wrote in an email to RealVail.com.
As first reported by The New York Times : “’My career ended with no intention of coming back,’ Vonn, the winner of three Winter Olympic medals and 82 World Cup races, said in an interview last week. But seven months ago, Vonn had right-knee replacement surgery. Ten weeks later, she resumed skiing and was startled to be pain-free. ‘I had a smile so wide it was coming through the back of my helmet,’ Vonn said.” Vonn retired from the sport five years ago.
As noted by RealVail.com late last month, Vonn had been back on snow and was training ahead of the World Cup opener in Soelden, Austria — a giant slalom she was not eligible to compete in at the time.
The only other time Beaver Creek hosted women’s speed events — the 2015 World Championships — Vonn won a bronze in super-G. Mikaela Shiffrin of Edwards, who has since then passed Vonn on the career victory list with 97 wins, won gold in slalom at those championships.
It is impossible to write about an Olympic gold medalist coming out of retirement at age 40 without mentioning the late Bill Johnson, who won the first ever U.S. Ski Team Olympic gold in men’s downhill at the 1984 Games in Sarajevo. In a bid to make the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic squad for the U.S., Johnson came out of retirement with tragic results.
A 17-year-old Vonn, then Lindey Kildow before marrying ex-husband Thomas Vonn, debuted at the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, where her best result was sixth in the combined event. The only American woman to ever win an Olympic downhill gold (2010 Vancouver Games), Vonn last raced in the Olympics in 2018 at the PyeongChang Games in South Korea, where she won a bronze in downhill — making her, at age 33, the oldest woman to win an alpine ski-racing medal at the time. The next Winter Olympics are scheduled for Cortina-Milan, Italy in 2026, when Vonn will be 41.
Frenchman Johan Clarey, 41 at the time (downhill silver at Beijing in 2022), is the oldest man to ever win an Olympic ski-racing medal, surpassing 36-year-old Bode Miller’s super-G bronze medal at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Men will race the Birds of Prey course at Beaver Creek the weekend before the women, with a downhill, super-G and GS Dec. 6-8. Look for River Radamus to excel in the GS on his home hill. Both the men and women are back in action this coming weekend, Nov. 16-17, in Levi, Finland, with slalom races that should feature Radamus and Shiffrin, who is hunting for her eighth victory in Levi and her 98th overall.
Vonn did not race much tech during her 19-season career, and the front end of the women’s World Cup schedule is tech-heavy (GS and slalom) starting with Levi, moving to Gurgl, Austria, and then crossing the pond to Killington, Vermont, and Tremblant, Canada, before coming out west for the speed events at Beaver Creek.
According to The New York Times, Vonn has been training at nearby Copper Mountain and specifically working on the aerobic conditioning necessary for a sustained, nearly two-minute downhill race.
U.S. Ski & Snowboard did not reveal in the following press release whether Vonn will for sure race at Beaver Creek next month:
U.S. Ski & Snowboard is excited to announce that alpine great Lindsey Vonn will rejoin the Stifel U.S. Ski Team.
Vonn’s 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 Stifel U.S. Ski Team in Colorado and beyond, representing a new exciting chapter in her already storied career.
“Getting back to skiing without pain has been an incredible journey,” said Vonn. “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.”
Vonn’s return comes off the back of a strong season for the women’s Stifel U.S. Ski Team. Her presence will bring an extra layer of experience to the already successful alpine program.
“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 towards alpine skiing is inspiring and we’re excited to have her back on snow and see where she can go from here.”
Vonn recorded her first World Cup victory in 2004 and continued on to win three Olympic medals, 20 World Cup titles (including four overall Crystal Globes), eight World Championship medals, 137 World Cup podiums and 82 World Cup victories. However, she suffered multiple injuries during her career and despite her ability to persevere and come back from those injuries, it eventually was the reason for her retirement after 18 seasons on the World Cup tour. Following a partial knee replacement surgery in April, she feels stronger than ever.
Vonn also continues to work with her personal foundation, the Lindsey Vonn Foundation, which supports underserved girls through scholarships and empowerment programs, and is still a mentor to current Stifel U.S. Ski Team athletes. She hopes she can continue to inspire the next generation of women in sports.
“Lindsey is someone who has really been there for me throughout my time on the World Cup circuit,” said Stifel U.S. Ski Team athlete Bella Wright. “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.”
The last time Lindsey Vonn raced the women’s super-G at Beaver Creek was during the 2015 Alpine World Ski Championships, where then boyfriend and golf legend Tiger Woods was in the crowd watching (David O. Williams photo).
David O. Williams is the editor and co-founder of RealVail.com and has had his awarding-winning work (see About Us) published in more than 75 newspapers and magazines around the world, including 5280 Magazine, American Way Magazine (American Airlines), the Anchorage Daily News (Alaska), the Anchorage Daily Press (Alaska), Aspen Daily News, Aspen Journalism, the Aspen Times, Beaver Creek Magazine, the Boulder Daily Camera, the Casper Star Tribune (Wyoming), the Chicago Tribune, Colorado Central Magazine, the Colorado Independent (formerly Colorado Confidential), Colorado Newsline, Colorado Politics (formerly the Colorado Statesman), Colorado Public News, the Colorado Springs Gazette, the Colorado Springs Independent, the Colorado Statesman (now Colorado Politics), the Colorado Times Recorder, the Cortez Journal, the Craig Daily Press, the Curry Coastal Pilot (Oregon), the Daily Trail (Vail), the Del Norte Triplicate (California), the Denver Daily News, the Denver Gazette, the Denver Post, the Durango Herald, the Eagle Valley Enterprise, the Eastside Journal (Bellevue, Washington), ESPN.com, Explore Big Sky (Mont.), the Fort Morgan Times (Colorado), the Glenwood Springs Post-Independent, the Grand Junction Daily Sentinel, the Greeley Tribune, the Huffington Post, the King County Journal (Seattle, Washington), the Kingman Daily Miner (Arizona), KUNC.org (northern Colorado), LA Weekly, the Las Vegas Sun, the Leadville Herald-Democrat, the London Daily Mirror, the Moab Times Independent (Utah), the Montgomery Journal (Maryland), the Montrose Daily Press, The New York Times, the Parent’s Handbook, Peaks Magazine (now Epic Life), People Magazine, Powder Magazine, the Pueblo Chieftain, PT Magazine, the Rio Blanco Herald Times (Colorado), Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine, the Rocky Mountain News, RouteFifty.com (formerly Government Executive State and Local), the Salt Lake Tribune, SKI Magazine, Ski Area Management, SKIING Magazine, the Sky-Hi News, the Steamboat Pilot & Today, the Sterling Journal Advocate (Colorado), the Summit Daily News, United Hemispheres (United Airlines), Vail/Beaver Creek Magazine, Vail en Español, Vail Health Magazine, Vail Valley Magazine, the Vail Daily, the Vail Trail, Westword (Denver), Writers on the Range and the Wyoming Tribune Eagle. Williams is also the founder, publisher and editor of RealVail.com and RockyMountainPost.com.
