Lindsey Vonn makes first podium of Alpine skiing comeback, oldest in World Cup history

ALPINE SKIING: Full Results | Broadcast ScheduleVonn’s goal in her comeback is to make her fifth Olympic team in 2026, then retire for good next year. She’s well on her way. Vonn finished 1.29 seconds back in second place in what was likely her last World Cup race on U.S. soil, 11 months before she hopes to race at a fifth Olympics at the Milan Cortina Games.“Today meant everything to me,” said Vonn, whose 12 career World Cup wins at Cortina are a record for the venue. “This is the road now to Cortina next year.”

“I usually do better when the pressure’s higher,” Vonn, an 82-time World Cup winner and the 2010 Olympic downhill champion, said on NBC Sports. “It’s the last race of the season. I just put it all on the line. This is the level that I know I can ski. I know I can even do better than that. It’s been a rough season of people saying that I can’t, that I’m too old, that I’m not good enough anymore. I think I proved everyone wrong.”How to watch the 2025 Alpine skiing World Cup Finals from Sun Valley, Idaho, on NBC Sports and Peacock.“This year has just been really up and down, and it’s been hard to stay positive sometimes, especially because people are telling me that I should just quit — again,” said Vonn, whose 138 World Cup podiums are tied for third-most in history and 408 World Cup starts are one off Austrian Renate Götschl’s female record.“I really wanted to do well at home,” Vonn said. “It’s very rare in my career that I’ve ever been able to ski a speed event on home soil.” Lindsey Vonn made her first podium since returning from a five-year retirement, finishing second in the super-G at the World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, in her last race of the season.Vonn made the first podium of her comeback in her 13th World Cup race. Her best previous finishes this season were sixth in a downhill and fourth in a super-G on Jan. 11 and 12.A nation can qualify up to four skiers per Olympic race, and Vonn is the third-ranked American this season in the downhill and second in the super-G. The Olympic team for the Milan Cortina Games will be named next winter.AN INCREDIBLE RUN FOR LINDSEY VONN. Vonn, 40, shattered the record of oldest women’s World Cup podium finisher. Austrian Alexandra Meissnitzer made her last podium at 34 years and nearly 9 months old in 2008, according to ski-db.com.The World Cup Finals continue Tuesday with the women’s giant slalom. USA Network airs live coverage of the second run at 2 p.m. ET.