Lindsey Vonn’s Rival Sends Strong Message After Beating American Skiing Legend Ahead of Major Competition

The conditions at the Super-G World Cup in Garmisch-Partenkirchen on Sunday, January 26, were far from ideal. Wet, slushy, and with poor visibility, causing a brief delay. Despite the tricky weather, Lindsey Vonn had a solid run. Starting with bib number 27, she had a strong top section and was just half a second behind the leader. But in the second half of the course, things didn’t quite click as she struggled to find the right lines.

In the end, she finished 1.4 seconds behind Lara Gut-Behrami, placing 13th with a time of 1:16.31. It wasn’t a podium finish, but it was a step up from her first comeback race in St. Moritz last December. Despite not making the top spots, Vonn seemed in great spirits, waving to the crowd at Garmisch, where she’s had a lot of success over the years with nine World Cup wins.

Since returning to competition, she’s been showing improvement. This includes a stunning finish at the St. Anton’s Super G on January 12th. She followed this with another race at Cortina last week, but she did not win. She will be looking to the World Championships happening in February in Saalbach, Austria. But for that, she will need to be selected by the US team.

On the flip side, Lara Gut-Behrami had an impressive win, managing to conquer the tough conditions and snag her first victory of the season. Gut-Behrami finished 0.35 seconds ahead of Norway’s Kajsa Vickhoff. She nailed the middle section of the Kandahar course and claimed her 46th career win, tying for fifth on the all-time female winners list. After crossing the finish line, she couldn’t hide her excitement, saying, “It’s nice. I’ve been skiing well for a while, but still missing something, so it’s great to be able to win again.”

She also talked about the challenging conditions, saying, “It’s a challenging slope. It’s not the conditions where I ski the best. It was a little bit slippery, a little bit soft. Sometimes when you don’t have the perfect conditions for yourself, you stop thinking.” The victory positions her optimally for competition at the upcoming World Championships next month. Beyond the race victory, Lindsey Vonn maintains her focus because she has big ambitions.

What’s next for Lindsey Vonn?

In November of last year, Lindsey Vonn’s comeback announcement produced skeptical reactions from many observers. The six years since her retirement raised questions because of a knee injury that became worse from multiple accidents throughout her career. With a titanium knee and her 40th birthday behind her, she made a bold return to racing because no woman had ever triumphed at a major athletic competition after turning 34. She took a daring decision to return and made substantial strides during these couple of months.

After her 14th-place finish in Super-G at St. Moritz, she secured sixth place afterward and moved up to fourth position during her races at St. Anton. She claims to maintain better health presently than she did in 2019 after her formal retirement. And now, with the possibility of competing in her fifth Olympics next year in Milan-Cortina, the comeback that many thought would fail is looking like it could be a real success. Since her return, Vonn’s been pretty clear about her plans: after the Milan-Cortina Olympics, she’ll retire for good.

On the other hand, her rival Mikaela Shiffrin is out due to an abdominal injury. She has been off the snow for 2 months now. But is expected to race again in France this coming Thursday the 30th. Fortunately, she seemed to be okay after the incident. All in all, it’s been a pretty eventful few days in the ski racing! Well, it will be interesting to see Lindsey Vonn and Shiffrin race again!!