American great Lindsey Vonn won the opening women’s World Cup downhill of the season on Friday to make Alpine ski history at the age of 41 and give her 2026 Olympic comeback hopes a sensational boost.<\/p>\n
The 2010 Olympic downhill champion took the 83rd win of her career \u2014 and first since a downhill in \u00c5re, Sweden, in March 2018 \u2014 by 0.98 of a second in the Swiss resort of St Moritz.<\/p>\n
The previous oldest World Cup winner was Switzerland’s Didier Cuche at 37 in a men’s Super-G in 2012. Italy’s Federica Brignone was the oldest previous female winner at 34 last season.<\/p>\n
“I knew I was skiing fast but you never know until the first race,” said Vonn, who retired in 2019 and began her comeback last year, after a tearful telephone call with her father.<\/p>\n
“I was a little faster than I expected. I think I had a great run but I also made some mistakes so I’m excited for tomorrow.”<\/p>\n
Vonn has another downhill on Saturday followed by a Super-G on Sunday.<\/p>\n
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Lindsey Vonn’s last World Cup victory came in 2018. (Getty Images: Agence Zoom\/Mateo Sgambato)<\/p>\n
Only compatriot Mikaela Shiffrin (104) and Swedish great Ingemar Stenmark (86) have won more Alpine World Cup races than Vonn, who can add to her tally before February’s Milano-Cortina Games.<\/p>\n
Starting 16th on the Corviglia piste in perfect conditions, Vonn was behind after the first two time checks but powered through to cross the line in one minute 29.63 seconds.<\/p>\n
Collapsing in the snow at the inflatable safety barrier, the four-times overall World Cup champion got back up and whooped in delight as she thrust her ski poles in the air.<\/p>\n
Austrians Magdalena Egger, second from a 27th start and born a year after Vonn made her World Cup debut, and Mirjam Puchner completed the podium.<\/p>\n
Vonn’s return to competitive downhill skiing, the most dangerous of disciplines, after knee surgery had some former rivals questioning her sanity last year but she has turned that to her advantage.<\/p>\n
“All the people who didn’t believe in me, I have to thank them, because it gives me a lot of motivation,” she said.<\/p>\n
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Lindsey Vonn is now targetting the 2026 Winter Olympic Games \u2014 and beyond. (Getty Images: Agence Zoom\/Mateo Sgambato)<\/p>\n
Vonn ended the season with a first podium in seven years when she finished second in the Super-G at the World Cup finals in Sun Valley, Idaho.<\/p>\n
Friday was her 44th win in downhill, 21 years after her first in 2004, and it transformed her Olympic prospects.<\/p>\n
From being an outside medal hope, Vonn now looks a real contender for gold after beating a string of far younger champions in her 409th start.<\/p>\n
She could also extend her comeback to the end of the season, beyond Cortina.<\/p>\n