Lindsey Vonn Wins World Cup Downhill, Makes History Ahead of 2026 Winter Olympics

The 41-year-old athlete took home the victory on Friday, breaking a previous record for the sport.

Lindsey Vonn / Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images

Lindsey Vonn is ending 2025 on a truly triumphant note.

The 41-year-old athlete made history today, Dec. 12, when she won the first women’s downhill race in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in St. Moritz, Switzerland, becoming the “oldest winner of a World Cup race since the circuit started in 1967,” as reported by AP News. Per multiple outlets, including CNN, Vonn won the race by “0.98 of a second.”

The victory puts Vonn in a strong position ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy, where the athlete hopes to make her biggest comeback yet.

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Vonn has had a storied, decorated career in the sport, winning three Olympic medals before her initial retirement back in 2019. She won a gold medal in downhill and a bronze in Super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, taking home another bronze in downhill eight years later at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

The alpine skier then retired from competition in early 2019 due to knee injuries. Sitting down to chat with TIME for a cover feature back in October of this year, Vonn opened up about how her retirement affected her mentally, telling the outlet, “I felt a pretty big hole [...] You don’t want to get out of bed, and you’ve got no drive.” She went on, adding, “It was the one thing that really made me happy [...] When I retired, that first year was like, ‘How do I get out of this funk? What is going to make me feel like I have a purpose?’”

However, after five seasons off the slopes, Vonn returned to the sport in late 2024 following her knee replacement surgery—a journey she shared with fans on her Instagram—with renewed hopes of competing in the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.

“I am not a long shot,” Vonn told TIME of her comeback plans. “I am back in the game.”

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Vonn held back tears while she took her spot on the podium earlier today, celebrating her triumphant return to the sport and her incredible win.

This downhill was the first of three races in a row for the returning athlete, all of which will take place over this weekend in Switzerland. Vonn will compete in another downhill race tomorrow, Dec. 13, and a Super-G race slated for Sunday, Dec. 14. Meanwhile, the 2026 Winter Olympics are scheduled to run from Feb. 6 to Feb. 22 next year.

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