St. Moritz (Switzerland) (AFP) – Lindsey Vonn cemented her remarkable comeback at the age of 41 in style with her first World Cup win since 2018 on Friday, throwing down the gauntlet to her far younger rivals in the downhill at the upcoming Winter Olympics. The veteran American rolled back the years to start a season that will lead to the Games in Milan-Cortina, claiming her 83rd career World Cup win two decades after her first to become the oldest winner of all time on the circuit.
The Minnesota-born veteran rejoined the US team last season after retiring due to a serious knee injury in 2019. She underwent a reconstruction of her knee using titanium and returned to competition last season, picking up the first podium in the second chapter of her decorated career at Sun Valley in March when second in the Sun Valley super-G. After going one better on Friday, she punched the crisp Swiss air with delight and celebrated taking her career haul at St Moritz to six victories before her phone started buzzing with congratulatory calls, including an emotional chat with her father back in the United States.
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The unstoppable Vonn has teamed up with close friend, retired Norwegian double Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal, this season to give her the best possible chance of adding to her Olympic medal haul next year. “We worked really hard,” Vonn told TNT. “Not just me, the whole team. I hired Aksel, I knew I was skiing fast, you never know until the first race, but I think I skied faster than I thought.” Lund Svindal commented: “I knew we were well prepared and fight for the win, it’s unbelievable, she can be so clean, that’s where she can pull away from the field. Surprised? A little, but mostly respect,” he added.
Fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin, who has more World Cup wins than anyone with 104, congratulated Vonn. “What an INCREDIBLE show of how far you can climb with hard work, determination, patience, and so much passion. Huge congratulations @lindseyvonn,” said Shiffrin on Instagram. Sofia Goggia, the Italian 2018 Olympic downhill champion, who finished 1.31sec behind Vonn in fourth, was one of the first to hug her great rival. “I knew you could win, but not by that margin!” she whispered to her. “To be sincere, I didn’t think she would be one second ahead of all the others,” said Goggia, who will be one of Vonn’s biggest obstacles to downhill gold on her home Italian slopes at the Olympics in two months’ time.
Setting off 16th of the 61 racers, Vonn posted the quickest times in each of the sectors. The American crossed the line in 1min 29.63sec to lay down a stark reminder to her rivals ahead of the Olympics in February. She had a staggering cushion of nearly a second over second-placed Austrian Magdelena Egger, who at 24 is almost half Vonn’s age, with another Austrian, Mirjam Puchner, third. This landmark performance puts her bang in contention to add to her Olympic downhill gold at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.
She will be back on the St Moritz slope on Saturday for another World Cup downhill. “I’m going to try to get some sleep tonight and get ready for tomorrow,” she said. “I’m actually getting excited for the super-G (on Sunday at St Moritz), because skiing super-G better than downhill. I’m going to enjoy this day and this weekend.” Vonn seized skiing’s golden oldie record from Didier Cuche, the Swiss who has held the record as the oldest World Cup winner when he won a super-G at Crans Montana in 2012 aged 37. The oldest winner on the women’s circuit until Friday was Austrian Elisabeth Goergl, winner of a super-G in 2014 at the age of 33.
On her return, Vonn had said her comeback was about “pushing boundaries and proving what’s possible” – regardless of what the future holds, she has already fulfilled that twin mission with Friday’s show on the Swiss snow.
© 2024 AFP
