Lindsey Vonn’s ultimate goal in returning to Alpine skiing competition at age 40 is to make it to a fifth Olympics at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.
“I’ve tried to keep everything in perspective and not set goals too high, but ultimately, if I can make it to Cortina, that would be my goal,” she told NBC Sports on Saturday after forerunning the Stifel Birds of Prey World Cup downhill at Beaver Creek, Colorado.
NBC and Peacock air highlights of the Beaver Creek World Cup on Sunday at 4 p.m. ET.
Vonn announced her comeback last month. She tempered expectations at the time, having not competed since retiring after the February 2019 World Championships.
She had left the sport due to the toll ski racing injuries had taken on her body. She then felt pain-free following partial right knee replacement surgery this past April, leading her to start training again a few months ago.
“To be able to ski without pain, it’s a completely new world for me,” she said Saturday. “I haven’t felt this good in 15 years.”
Vonn returned to competition in lower-level races last weekend. She plans to move up to the top-level World Cup next weekend.
“While I am very excited to be participating, I definitely have goals and expectations, and I’m trying to be as patient as possible with myself on this journey and take it step by step and not skip any steps,” she said Friday. “I know my way back to a competitive level might take a race or two, but I certainly intend on getting back to where I was before.”
The 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics are especially meaningful for Vonn because of the setting. The women’s Alpine races will be in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Vonn recorded her first career World Cup podium result in Cortina in 2004 — “That was the first time I felt like I really belonged on the World Cup,” she later said — then won 12 races at the Italian venue over her career. That included breaking the then-women’s Alpine World Cup victories record in 2016.
“When I retired, I think the number one thing that I was sad about was that I couldn’t race Cortina at the Olympics,” she said Wednesday.
A nation can qualify to enter up to four Alpine skiers per individual race at the Games.
The U.S. roster is typically finalized in the weeks leading up to the Opening Ceremony and largely based off international results in the year leading up to the Olympics.
In Vonn’s primary events of downhill and super-G, the No. 4 U.S. woman last season ranked 33rd and 45th, respectively, in the World Cup standings.
Vonn can break Bode Miller’s record as the oldest U.S. Olympic Alpine skier in history and become the third-oldest female Olympic Alpine skier across all nations, according to the OlyMADMen.
Vonn is already the youngest U.S. Olympic Alpine skier since 1968. She debuted at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games at age 17, placing sixth in the combined.
