Lindsey Vonn impresses on her comeback in St. Moritz and finishes 14th. In the interview, the American is overjoyed, is satisfied with her run and reveals that it was far from her best version.
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- Lindsey Vonn finishes 14th in the Super-G in St. Moritz - almost six years after her last appearance in the Ski World Cup.
- After the race, Vonn is overjoyed and says: "You never feel all this in your life. Only at the start of a Speed World Cup."
- Vonn was mostly satisfied with her run, even if she is not yet at her limit: "The results will come, I just have to be patient."
Lindsey Vonn has successfully mastered her World Cup comeback. Almost six years after her last race, the 40-year-old raced to a strong 14th place in the super-G in St. Moritz with bib number 31. If the 82-time World Cup winner had not lost over half a second in the top section, an absolute top result would have been possible.
After the race, the hype surrounding Vonn is huge. But the American takes her time, seems to thoroughly enjoy the attention and says how happy she is to be back: "The whole day has made me very happy. I'm enjoying every second of it. It's a great feeling, the audience was amazing. I met so many people who said I could do it. That's special for me."
The American explains that she is doing it all for herself, the speed makes her happy. But the support of the fans helps: "It gives me energy," says Vonn. All in all, it was the perfect day with the weather and the crowd. "I couldn't ask for more, this is 100 percent madness."
In the start house, she told herself that she had to ski with confidence and go full throttle. The American specified: "All the adrenaline, I like that. It's a great feeling to have the risk again. You never feel all that in your life. Only at the start of a Speed World Cup."
No worries for the first time since 2013
When Vonn ended her career in February 2019, she said her body was so broken that it was beyond repair. Because she was plagued by pain even after her retirement, she decided to have a partial knee replacement in April 2024. With the partially artificial knee joint, she was finally pain-free, and even after her comeback in St. Moritz, Vonn reveals that she had no pain: "I never thought about my knee, I haven't had this feeling since 2013, since my first cruciate ligament rupture. It's just perfect, not swollen, no pain and I never have to think about it, I can concentrate on how I want to ski."
That's how it should be, explains Vonn. That she doesn't have to worry about her body, but that she knows it works. That gives her a lot of self-confidence. For the second super-G on Sunday, Vonn immediately plans to ski better: "There were a few parts today where I wasn't as fast. If I ski cleaner and take more risks with the line, then I'll be in a perfect position."
Vonn is already looking ahead again in her analysis. 14th place is great, but the most important thing is that she is not so far away from the winner Conny Hütter. The 40-year-old lost 1.18 seconds to the winner on her comeback: "That's close," says Vonn. She doesn't think the competition is getting nervous yet, but then follows up with a warning to all speed stars: "In a few races, yes. The results will come, I just have to be patient."
Getting back into the racing rhythm after six years was no problem: "I've been skiing since I was seven years old. It's normal for me. I'm at the start and it feels right. I should be there." And how did the other skiers react to her return? "We make jokes together. With Sofia (Goggia), with my team. We are very relaxed people. We take risks when we're skiing, but afterwards we're all relaxed," says Vonn.
She has received so many good reactions from the other athletes, which makes her happy. It feels like a big team, the World Cup is like a big team and everyone is very close. Vonn explains: "We all have the same risk, that's why we are a family. I'm back with my family again."
When asked whether Pirmin Zurbriggen, Sonja Nef and Bernhard Russi are also part of this ski family, Lindsey Vonn laughs it off, saying only: "I don't have time to talk about these negative things."
What the Swiss competition says about Vonn's return
blue Sport also asked the Swiss women after the race what they thought of Lindsey Vonn's comeback. Delia Durrer, who finished 21st, says of the American: "You can see from her skiing that she has an incredible palmares and that she remains an exceptional ski racer. It's cool that she's back in the circus."
Michelle Gisin, who finished directly behind Vonn in 15th place, said after the race: "That was very strong, I was always convinced that she would be fast. She definitely skied a great race."
Lara Gut-Behrami, who once again finished on the podium despite making a mistake, is less talkative. When asked about Vonn, the Ticino native simply says: "I don't think it's necessary for everyone to add their two cents."
