Vonn says comeback has exceeded her expectations

Jan 18 (Reuters) – Lindsey Vonn’s comeback since reversing her retirement at the age of 40 has surpassed her own expectations, the American skiing great said.

Vonn, a three-times Olympic medallist and four-times overall World Cup champion, came out of retirement last November to rejoin the U.S. ski team after she returned to training following successful knee surgery earlier in the year.

Having retired in 2019 following a bruising 18-year career where she suffered several injuries, Vonn celebrated her best performance since returning to action with a fourth-place finish in a Super-G race in St. Anton, Austria, last weekend.

On her return to competition in December, Vonn finished 24th out of 45 skiers in her first of two downhill races and 27th in the second.

“I didn’t expect anything that has happened this year,” Vonn told the BBC’s Ski Sunday programme.

“Even when I said I was going to race again, I didn’t even expect to race in St Anton because I thought there would be no way I’d be ready to race there. It’s such a challenging hill.

“I’ve definitely far exceeded my expectations by a long shot.”

Vonn had walked away from the sport as the most decorated athlete in women’s skiing when she finished her career with 82 World Cup wins — a record that was broken in January 2023 by compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin.

Vonn is now solely focused on maintaining her fitness levels and being in top form as she prepares for the weekend’s race in Cortina, Italy.

“I don’t think this weekend’s results mean anything for the next Olympics (Milano Cortina 2026),” Vonn said.

“It (Olympics) depends on whether I can stay healthy, figure out my equipment, can I maintain this level of skiing for another year? I don’t know the answer to those questions.

“I’m going to enjoy this weekend as if it’s the last time I ski here and we’ll see what every day brings.”