“This is maybe my last chance to race at home in my lifetime, and I’m going to enjoy it.” These were the words Lindsey Vonn uttered before entering the downhill and Super-G of the ongoing Ski World Cup Season. But don’t get it twisted. This wasn’t just another race for the legendary skier. No, this was a rare chance to race at the American slopes of Sun Valley, Idaho. The last time she was here in 2018, she was at the top of the game with a downhill title. But now, seven years down the line, things are much different. Not to mention Sun Valley was special to her in another way as well.

Right now, at 40 years old, Lindsey is the oldest competitor in the finals, ranking 17th in the super-G and 19th in the downhill. Yet, age and rankings couldn’t shake her determination. She was ready to give it her all in Saturday’s (March 22) downhill finals, eager to savor every moment of what could be her last major race on home snow. There is more to it that has an even deeper meaning to Vonn.

Idaho is the hometown of the legendary Picabo Street. And Street is someone who Vonn owes her entire career to. “The premise came from when I met my idol, Picabo Street when I was nine years old. I met with her for two minutes, and because of her, I wanted to be an Olympian,” Vonn said on The Daily Show in 2019. So wrapping up her USA career at Idaho was somewhat like a full circle moment for her. But fate had other plans.

Late on March 22, Lindsey took to her Instagram story with a disheartening update: the race was canceled. She reshared a post with a caption that read, “So sad the race is canceled! Thank you to everyone for coming out. Hoping for tomorrow 🤞.” Also, in the same series of stories, Lindsey shared a clip where a team of volunteers was on the slope for a routine check. In that caption, she wrote, “Thank you to all the volunteers who worked so hard to try to race today.” What happened?

It was Mother Nature who played the spoilsport. As per the available updates, the snowfalls from last night did damage to the tracks. The authority, however, tried to manage the problem by delaying the race. In fact, hundreds of volunteers reportedly worked overnight so that the tracks could be readied. But strong winds shattered their efforts. “It’s brutal for the team. It’s brutal for the whole community,” Austin Savaria, an assistant coach with the men’s speed team, said.

“I mean, the effort these guys put in to make the conditions of the snow perfect. It can’t be any better. So seeing some gust of wind cancel a race like that, it’s pretty tough for everyone.” Because of the cancelation, the season World Cup downhill leader for the women, Federica Brignone (384 points) of Italy, was crowned as the winner. On the men’s side, Marco Odermatt of Switzerland, with 606 points, clinched the title. Now, the ski racing fans will hope to see the race on the next day, that is the Super-G final on Sunday.

The authority has yet to share any update on that, though. Lindsey is also keeping her fingers crossed. “Mother Nature was not on our side today. Hoping tomorrow we will have an amazing super-g and I can have one final speed race in the United States. I haven’t had many opportunities to ski speed at home so I will give it my all for the home crowd,” she wrote in an Instagram post. And why not? After all, she had to do a lot to reach such a position. 

Lindsey Vonn recalls her painful journey to reach this point

On March 9, Lindsey Vonn got candid about the grueling path she took to chase her Winter Olympics dream. In an interview with CBS News, the three-time Olympic medalist revealed the heartbreaking struggles she faced as she battled through injury after injury. “It was really bad, and I kept getting surgeries to try to,” she recalled, her voice filled with raw emotion. But no matter how many procedures she underwent, nothing could ease the relentless pain.

Eventually, the suffering forced the three-time Olympic medalist to make an unthinkable decision—to walk away from the sport she loved. In mid-2019, seemingly out of the blue, Vonn announced her retirement. For someone whose life had been defined by skiing, the farewell felt abrupt and heartbreaking. However, everything changed last year. 

In April, Lindsey underwent a partial knee replacement, a game-changing procedure that freed her from the shackles of chronic pain. With a titanium implant in her right knee, she finally experienced something she hadn’t felt in years: relief. The difference was almost immediate. “It was pretty quickly after,” Vonn said, describing how the surgery allowed her to move her knee without the familiar sting of agony.

Well, the transformation was nothing short of remarkable. For the first time in years, Lindsey Vonn could move freely—not just as a skier, but as a person who had finally reclaimed her life from pain. So, the first thing she decided to do was return to the place where she belonged: the slopes. “The reason I stopped before was because my body wasn’t working. And now that my body’s working again, my mind can do what it wants to do. Which is going fast,” was Vonn’s simple logic. And here she is now—waiting to compete in the finals at 40!