Lindsey Vonn's Remarkable Return to World Cup Downhill Skiing

Lindsey Vonn, the renowned American skier, recorded the 10th fastest time in a training run on Thursday, marking her return to World Cup downhill skiing after a six-year hiatus. Just three weeks ago, she made a remarkable comeback with a titanium knee at the age of 40, participating in a super-G event and completing the Karl Schranz course 2.55 seconds slower than Italy's Federica Brignone, the fastest time in the training run.

During the training run, Vonn reached speeds close to 109 km/h on a challenging section of the course, an area where she celebrated a downhill victory back in December 2007. Meanwhile, Canadian skier Valérie Grenier finished in 46th place, trailing 7.09 seconds behind Brignone. A second practice session is set for Friday leading up to the race on Saturday.

Vonn boasts an impressive record of 43 World Cup downhill victories, the highest for both men and women, contributing to her total of 82 career wins, which ranks her third all-time. She retired in February 2019 after competing in the world championships in Sweden, but her recent surprise return has been focused on reestablishing herself in her favorite downhill event.

Previously, she finished 14th in the super-G at St. Moritz, Switzerland, after taking a cautious approach, and had another race cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Looking ahead, Vonn is scheduled to participate in a super-G at St. Anton on Sunday and aims to compete at Cortina d'Ampezzo next week, a venue that will host the women's events for the 2026 Olympics, where she has an impressive history of six downhill and six super-G victories. Vonn also has her sights set on qualifying for the upcoming world championships in Saalbach, Austria, next month.