Vet Vonn’s return is snow joke

As sporting comebacks go Lindsey Vonn, 41, is in a class of her own. She qualified for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games, Team USA announced just before Christmas. It will be the fifth Winter Olympics that she competes in. They run from Feb. 6-22 in Italy. This is an amazing comeback considering her age and how long she was retired.

Vonn had an impressive run at the World Cup in France recently. She was third in super-G, hitting a high speed of 71 mph. It was her second consecutive podium finish after she was third in downhill. It was the 142nd podium finish in her World Cup career.

Vonn became the oldest skiing downhill World Cup winner at St Moritz in Switzerland a month ago. She retired from the sport in 2019 because of knee problems but made her competitive return a year ago. She has collected one gold and two bronze Olympic medals in her career. She finished in one minute and 29.63 seconds - nearly a second quicker than second-placed Magdalena Egger - to wrap up her 83rd World Cup win and first since 2018.

Vonn seized skiing’s oldest World Cup winner record from Switzerland’s Didier Cuche, who had held it since victory in the super-G at Crans Montana, USA in 2012, aged 37. The oldest winner on the women’s circuit was Austrian Elisabeth Goergl for her victory in the super-G at Val d’Isere, France in 2014, aged 33.

“I am honoured to be able to represent my country one more time, in my fifth and final Olympics!” she wrote in a post on Instagram. “When I made the decision to return to ski racing, I always had one eye on Cortina because it’s a place that is very, very special to me. Although I can’t guarantee any outcomes, I can guarantee that I will give my absolute best every time l kick out of the starting gate. No matter how these games end up, I feel like I’ve already won.

“I am grateful for how the season has gone so far, but I am just getting started. See you in Cortina!”