After six years away from competition, skiing legend Lindsey Vonn made an emotional return to the slopes, earning a podium finish at the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup finals in Idaho. The American icon finished second in the Super-G, becoming the oldest Alpine skier ever to place in the top three at a World Cup event.
Vonn’s remarkable comeback followed a partial knee replacement surgery in April 2025 — a procedure she underwent to fix long-standing knee problems. Determined to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics, she worked through months of intense rehabilitation to regain her strength and form.
Though her early races didn’t go as planned, Vonn refused to let setbacks define her. She stayed focused on adapting to competition again and steadily improved until that breakthrough second-place finish — a moment that brought her to tears on the podium.
Appearing on “The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon”, Vonn opened up about what the achievement meant to her.
“This comeback was kind of crazy,” she said. “I’ve got a titanium knee, I’m forty-one, and I already held the record for the oldest Olympic medalist at thirty-three. A lot of people doubted me. But when I got that silver medal at the World Cup, it felt like my Olympics. I did it for myself. Everyone said I couldn’t — but I proved them wrong. I proved to myself that I could.”
Now, the former Olympic champion is pushing harder than ever as she prepares to face the world’s top skiers again in 2026.
Vonn Reflects on the Struggles Behind Her Comeback
In a separate interview with FIS, Vonn opened up about the challenges she faced in her return. She admitted that adjusting to new equipment and regaining her rhythm on the slopes took time — and that not every race went her way.
She described her 20th-place finish at Cortina d’Ampezzo as a low point in the season.
“There were a few tough moments,” Vonn said. “Mostly trying to figure out my equipment and what was working or not — it was difficult to fix those things mid-season.”
Despite the frustration, Vonn credited her positive mindset for helping her push through adversity. Her resilience, she said, was the key to reclaiming her place among skiing’s elite — and proving, once again, that she’s built for comebacks.
