Lindsey Vonn is eyeing a full-circle moment for her career. It was in 2004 when a 19-year-old Vonn reached her first World Cup podium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. For the next 15 years, she would go on to dominate, clinching 82 World Cup wins. Now, after coming back from retirement last month, which led to some criticism, and making a first World Cup appearance in six years, Vonn, with a new titanium knee in place, is raring to go again in next year’s Olympics.

In 2019, Vonn stepped away from skiing saying her body was “broken beyond repair.” However, after undergoing successful knee surgery last year, she competed at the FIS Fall Festival in Colorado in December and has continued her resurgence. If Vonn makes it to the Olympics, she will have the chance to race on Cortina, and she sees it as the ideal place to call time on her illustrious career.

Vonn’s return hasn’t been without challenges and on Thursday she crashed during downhill training, her first in Cortina in six years, but avoided any major injury. She said she was a “little bruised” but didn’t need medical attention as was reported earlier. Talking to the Associated Press in an interview Thursday, she revealed her ambitions and how she is feeling about the next chapter of her career.

Talking about calling time on her career after the Winter Olympics in Cortina, she said, “I would never go past that. It would be a great way to end things — for once and for all.” Cortina has been her hallowed ground ever since that podium 21 years ago.

In Cortina, she holds the record with 12 World Cup wins and in 2015 she broke Annemarie Moser-Pröll’s 35-year-old record of 62 World Cup wins across all disciplines at the same venue. Not only this, but Cortina was at the scene of her final World Cup race during the first part of her career as she decided to retire due to injuries a month later in 2019.

“I’ve had so many great memories here,” Vonn said. “I think probably the two most meaningful was my first podium, which started this roll of confidence. … It’s when everything clicked for me in downhill. And then obviously breaking the women’s win record.” But before she can think of ending her career on her terms and writing a fairytale finish, she has to get herself back in contention.

In 2024, she had a titanium knee replacement—a bold decision that let her get back to the sport she loves. The recovery was grueling: months of physical therapy, strength training, and gradual reintegration into competitive skiing. She remains an illustrious name in the sport, but skiing at an elite level with a reconstructed knee is a challenge on a whole different level.

The recent fall in training serves as a reminder that the second chapter of her career will be far from an easy journey. With a titanium knee, a history of devastating injuries, and a stacked field of younger, faster competitors, will she reach the finish line at Cortina 2026, her favorite course?

“I don’t know if it’s possible. I have to stay on my feet, unlike today,” Vonn said. “I have to keep things going and if I can make it, it would be a thrilling and a great way to kind of close the loop on my career — I guess the second chapter of my career. But I’m really trying not to think that far ahead. I have to stick with what’s on today and tomorrow and just kind of building and getting everything dialed in.”

Since her return, she continued to improve gradually. She finished 14th in her first World Cup race back last month and took many by surprise by finishing fourth and sixth last weekend in super-G and downhill races in St Anton, Austria.

Meanwhile, during the second downhill training run of the FIS World Cup event in Cortina on Friday, she finished 40th among the 56 finishers and was 3.39 seconds behind Sofia Goggia’s leading time. This once again highlights the task at hand for the 40-year-old, who has three Olympic successes to her name.

Now that she has an end goal in sight for her career, will she get the ending many believe she deserves?

Physical price to be paid—can Vonn’s body hold up?

The story of Vonn’s comeback is less about talent than about surviving the brutal physicality of skiing. In her career, she has torn an ACL, broken bones, concussions, nerve damage, and now a replacement knee made of titanium. She’s fallen hard, gotten up, and done it again more times than anyone can count.

Here’s a look back at the injuries suffered by Vonn:

2013: Severe ACL/MCL tear & tibial fracture at the World Championships

2016: Fractured arm during training, which required surgery

2018: Knee injury worsened to force early retirement

2024: Underwent titanium knee replacement prior to her return

2025: Crashed in a World Cup training run to raise new concerns.

Her body has been through knee replacements, ankle surgeries, and even a plate with 18 screws in her arm. It was persistent knee pain that kept her off the hill and forced her retirement in 2019, only to return again at 40, determined to prove she still could make waves. But her latest fall underlines just about all the warnings she got from former ski legends who questioned her return.

Two-time Olympic gold medalist Michaela Dorfmeister said, “Vonn should see a psychologist. Does she want to kill herself?” on Austrian TV when she returned to competitive skiing. Four-time overall World Cup champion Pirmin Zurbriggen also said there is a risk Vonn could “tear her artificial knee to pieces.”

However, she is driven by the motivation of one last shot at Olympic glory. Vonn’s comeback story could be one of the great final acts in Olympic history if she’s able to push through to 2026. She’s got the experience, the drive, and the love for the sport. But will her body hold up long enough to say goodbye on her terms? If anyone can pull off one last ride down the slopes, it’s Lindsey Vonn, and the 2026 Olympics in Cortina could be the perfect curtain call.