Amid Comeback Celebrations, Lindsey Vonn Continues To Worry About Hometown and LA Fires Victims

Lindsey Vonn’s heart goes out to LA, even when she’s miles away. The skier is currently in Austria, where she has just wrapped up her first downhill race after a six-year break. Yes, that is a huge milestone! But neither all that distance nor the celebration of her performances over the weekend could keep her from worrying about the blazing fires sweeping across LA.

The 40-year-old skier finished fourth in the St. Anton race, barely 0.32 seconds off of what could have potentially been her 138th career podium. However, Lindsey Vonn wasn’t thinking about her loss at the moment. She clearly had the people of LA and their suffering at the back of her mind. But, the emotion right at the forefront was a sense of happiness for her 22-year-old American teammate who had just claimed her first World Cup win!

Taking to Instagram on January 13, 2025, Lindsey Vonn congratulated Lauren Macuga, who took 1 minute, 17.51 seconds to etch her name as the first-ever American to win a super-G in St. Anton. The veteran wrote, “Being a part of an amazing team makes all the difference. So proud and happy for @lauren_macuga ‘s first win yesterday! The whole team has so much potential and I can’t wait to see what we can do this weekend in Cortina!”

But even amidst the delightful atmosphere in the American tent, Lindsey Vonn kept the people of LA in her prayers. Yes, she did not mask her concerns by putting on a brave face. Instead, she admitted, “Sending love and prayers to everyone back in LA 🙏🏻❤️” Well, even before heading to her comeback races this weekend, Vonn had the LA disaster on her mind. And not just the alarming bits, but even the lesson hidden in it for her to tackle the highs and lows on the slope: “No matter how bad your day is, someone always has it worse.” 

But Vonn’s concerns are unwarranted, are they? The conditions in LA are truly concerning, especially now that the winds have picked up again. Yes, as per the LA Times, the threat of current fires getting out of hand or potential new ones starting looms as winds gushing between 45 to 70 mph are making things worse. This is when the fire has already wreaked havoc, burning over 23,700 acres of land in the Palisades and 14,100 acres in Eaton, per the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection.

Well, this must truly feel like a gut punch to her! After all, it’s heartbreaking to even think about your possessions being consumed by such ill-fated calamities, “My home was in the evacuation zone and even just the thought of losing it was emotional,” she confessed. Thus, it’s quite possible that the situation is probably leaving Vonn befuddled, caught between a sense of achievement and her underlying worries.

Lindsey Vonn’s comeback has been a mixed bag

This weekend, Lindsey Vonn competed in a pair of races, which have added another chapter to her comeback story. However, she couldn’t taste victory in either. She finished sixth in the downhill event she explored after more than half a decade and fourth in the super-G race. Looking at the ranks solely (14, 6, 4), one realizes her comeback isn’t turning out as expected. In fact, even she knew these races could have been potential wins!

“I still made a couple of mistakes, I know I can be faster,” she claimed. Lindsey Vonn was rather consistent on Saturday, but Sunday was the day she struggled, thanks to the abrupt change in weather. The sunny day turned overcast and reduced the light, making it a complicated super-G race for her. In fact, she nearly lost her balance in one spot. “It was really bumpy; the light was really flat when I went. It was sunny and then when I was in the starting gate, it got dark and I didn’t even have time to change my goggles.”

However, for the fierce skier who has dared to make her comeback at 40, after all these years of injury, each day is valuable and each race is a learning lesson. Thus Lindsey Vonn is clearly focusing on the experience and not the figures, as she hinted on Instagram, “What a weekend!! 4th and 6th place in my second and third race back…..every day it’s getting better.” But don’t you think her return would have been legendary if we saw a few more podium finishes? Let us know what you think below!