On February 5, 2013, Lindsey Vonn went for a Super-G course in Schladming, Austria, chasing another world title. She was 0.12 seconds behind the leader when she hit a patch of soft snow, and her right ski dug in. What we know is that in an instant, she lost control. She crashed hard, her right knee twisting unnaturally, and the pain was immediate. Her ACL and MCL were torn, and her tibia was fractured. She couldn’t stand. But she fought back and raced through pain that most wouldn’t have tolerated. But by 2019, her body had had enough. The agony was relentless, and she had no choice but to walk away. Retirement was supposed to be her final chapter. But was it?

Then came 2024. At 40, with a partially replaced knee, Vonn did the unthinkable; she returned to competition, but this wasn’t straightforward even for an eight-time world championship medalist, and she had something to say about it! Vonn had announced her comeback in mid-November last year and soon after was back on the U.S. ski team for training. Time was against her, but she set her sights on the FIS Fall Festival at Copper Mountain, where the four races would decide if she still had what it took. The results?

Well, she gained enough points to get a ticket to the World Cup circuit. Vonn wanted to stage her coming-out party in Beaver Creek, where women racing the Birds of Prey course for the first time were making history. However, reality intervened in the form of a tight timeline, and St. Moritz became the place into which Vonn would step back onto the World Cup stage for the first time in nearly six years. As easy as that may sound, it wasn’t!

It was painful, even for one of the most decorated Alpine skiers. Vonn, who tore multiple ligaments in her knee and also suffered a tibial plateau fracture before making a comeback, said to CBS NEWS on March 9, “I just couldn’t do the things I love to do anymore.” Continuing further, she said, “It was really bad. I couldn’t straighten it all the way. I couldn’t flex it all the way. And so, I was just stuck in this half-state that ended up causing hip pain, back pain, neck pain. It wasn’t just my knee, unfortunately. It was kind of everything. It’s like you get to the end of your rope and you gotta make a decision. So, I did.”

Lindsey reluctantly stepped away on February 10, 2019, shortly after winning her eighth bronze medal at the World Championships in Åre, Sweden, a mere half-second behind Slovenia’s Ilka Štuhec. And just like that, it seemed Vonn was done. Or was she? After retirement, pain reigned over her life. Every time she walked, sat, or did any other activity, she felt pain. She wasn’t even able to fully straighten her right leg for years, which gave her hip, back, and neck problems. And to address that pain, she was in and out of a partial knee replacement surgery in April 2024, for pain rather than for the sake of a comeback, she hoped to find relief. Doctors replaced the damaged bone with titanium, allowing her for the first time in years to move without agony.

For her, at first, it was minor victories, like lifting weights, playing tennis, and drills she hadn’t done in eight years. Then came August, when she flew to New Zealand just to ski. The feeling was instant. The pain was gone, but the speed and the instincts were still there. By October, she was in Austria, training at full intensity, and the question wasn’t if she could ski again; it was if she could race. In November, she answered: Lindsey Vonn was coming back.

Lindsey Vonn’s Comeback Season: A Return to Racing

Lindsey Vonn, who made her first World Cup appearance in nearly six years, returned to the circuit in St. Moritz on December 21, where she finished 14th in the super-G, not the fairytale return one would suggest but a crucial first, nonetheless. She completed the run 1.18 seconds behind Austria’s rising star Cornelia Huetter and was the second-fastest American on the course.

Then, on January 11, came St. Anton. Bib number 32, but the performance cried vintage Vonn. She was the fastest in the top section, 77 mph, and closed out sixth place just behind Italy’s Federica Brignone by .58 seconds. When she would later cross the line and see the time, she threw her arms up in the air- relieved, excited, maybe even a little in disbelief. This comeback wasn’t just happening; it was gaining momentum.

On January 12, she lined up for the Super-G, wearing bib number 2, and it wasn’t just to make up the numbers, she went on the course, fast through the top section, but struggled to hold the perfect line in the second half but still reached fourth place. And then, on 11 February at the 2025 World Alpine Ski Championships, she teamed up with AJ Hurt in the new team combined event. Vonn’s 1:44.11 downhill left them in 21st. Hurt delivered in slalom, pushing them to 16th.

But the journey hasn’t been without setbacks, and she crashed at Cortina d’Ampezzo in training on January 26. She walked away with only minor bruises. Her next goal? More World Cup races. The ultimate dream? The 2026 Olympics in Cortina—the same slopes where she’s won before.