Lindsay Vonn ended her first season back as a professional skier by scooping up a silver medal at the super-G at the World Cup Finals over the weekend.
The 40-year-old star zoomed past Italy's Federica Brignone on the Challenger slope at Sun Valley on Sunday to finish in 1 minute, 13.64 seconds for second place behind Swiss skier Lara Gut-Behrami. The medal is Vonn's sixth super-G globe and makes her the oldest female Alpine skier to ever stand on a World Cup podium.
"I DID IT!!!!" writes Vonn on her Instagram page.
"After everything I’ve been through, I fought my way back on to the podium!! I can’t even start to describe what this means to me… I have been overwhelmed with emotion and support."
This is Vonn's 138th career podium and her first in seven years, earning her 13th in the super-G standings.
It's been a slower restart for the three-time Olympian, who announced her surprise return to the Stifel U.S. Ski Team in November, five years after she retired from the sport. Vonn has suffered multiple serious injuries throughout her storied career including a partial knee surgery last April. She didn't have the requisite points to compete at Beaver Creek in December, but she's been slowly picking up speed in St. Moritz and St. Anton.
And right now, she has no plans to slow down and savor the win. Up next, Vonn says she's eyeing the Olympic Games in Cortina 2026.
“It’s surreal to really think about where I was before my surgery and where I am now. I was living a completely different life, and I was just trying to get rid of my pain. And now I’m back trying to make it to the Olympics next year,” she tells the Associated Press.
