Lindsey Vonn, 41, wins World Cup downhill, 1st victory in 8 years

The queen of downhill skiing is well and truly back. At age 41, still faster than the rest.

Lindsey Vonn raced to a stunningly fast win in a World Cup downhill at St. Moritz on Friday to earn her first victory in nearly eight years — and the first in her comeback with titanium implants in her right knee after a five-year retirement.

Several major rivals, including World Cup overall winners Federica Brignone and Lara Gut-Behrami, Olympic champion Corinne Suter and emerging U.S. prospect Lauren Macuga did not race on Friday because of injuries. 

Vonn seized the lead by an astonishing 1.16 seconds ahead of Mirjam Puchner of Austria. Even wilder was that Vonn trailed by 0.61 after the first two time checks at the Swiss resort.

The ski great’s lead was later cut to 0.98 — still a massive margin in downhill — when unheralded Magdalena Egger took second place from teammate Puchner.

“It was an amazing day, I couldn’t be happier, pretty emotional,” Vonn told Swiss broadcaster RTS. “I felt good this summer but I wasn’t sure how fast I was. I guess I know now how fast I am.”

Soon after, Vonn shed tears on the podium in the finish area when The Star-Spangled Banner played.

It was a perfect start to her Olympic season to get a first victory since a downhill in March 2018 at Are, Sweden.

Vonn’s superb debut working with new coach Aksel Lund Svindal, a men’s downhill great who won the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics title, suggests their stellar partnership is paying off.

Her run Friday looked routine when she dropped tenths of seconds to Puchner’s time on the top half of the sunbathed Corviglia course, where the finish is at altitude above 6,500 feet.

Vonn then was faster than anyone through the next speed checks, touching 74 miles per hour, and posted the fastest time splits for the bottom half.

She skied through the finish area and bumped against the inflated safety barrier, lay down in the snow and raised her arms on seeing her time. Vonn got up, punched the air with her right fist and shrieked with joy before putting her hands to her left cheek in the style of Steph Curry’s “Night, night” gesture.

Olympic goals

The 2010 Olympic champion is targeting another gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February. Women’s Alpine skiing is at the storied Cortina d’Ampezzo course in the Dolomites, which Vonn has mastered in her career with 12 World Cup race wins.

“Obviously my goal is Cortina but if this is the way we start I think I’m in a good spot,” said Vonn, who will be favored for another downhill win Saturday at St. Moritz.

Vonn told CBS Sunday Morning earlier this year that she “never thought” she would be talking about going to the Olympics again. Just talking about heading to Italy means she is “already winning,” she said. 

“I will be at a disadvantage,” Vonn said. “I am 40, and at that time next year I will be 41. But I know my skiing is there. I think I’m actually skiing better now than I was last few years of my career.”

Vonn said she has been welcomed — and teased — by younger skiers on the U.S. team.  

“There’s one girl that calls me Grandma, which I don’t exactly appreciate!” Vonn said. “But there’s definitely some jokes around the team that, you know, I raced in my first Olympics before one of the girls was born.”

44 wins in 24 years

Friday’s race was Vonn’s 125th start in World Cup downhill in her storied career, 24 years after the first at Lake Louise, Canada.

She has now won a record-extending 44 of them, including at St. Moritz in 2012, and has 83 race victories across all World Cup disciplines.

Her previous win at Are came weeks after Vonn took bronze in downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games in South Korea won by Sofia Goggia, who placed fourth Friday. That Olympics was Vonn’s fourth and the last she attended.

She also won gold in downhill at the Vancouver Olympics in 2010, and at the 2009 world championships at Val d’Isere, France.

Such is Vonn’s dominance in downhill, she has more World Cup wins in the fastest discipline than the other 60 racers combined who started Friday, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation said.

A series of serious injuries this year robbed Friday’s race of World Cup overall winners Federica Brignone and Lara Gut-Behrami, Olympic champion Corinne Suter and emerging U.S. prospect Lauren Macuga.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Michelle Gisin had surgery on her back Thursday, after crashing hard in a training run at the fastest part of the St. Moritz course.

“I feel so sorry for Michelle, but that’s ski racing,” said Vonn.

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