Skiing legend Lindsey Vonn declared she has “nothing to prove” as she gears up for a potential return to the Winter Olympics in 2026, at age 41—more than two decades after her Olympic debut.
The three-time Olympic medalist, speaking Tuesday at the Team USA Olympic Media Summit ahead of the Milan-Cortina Games, expressed confidence that her comeback will not diminish her storied legacy. “I don’t think anyone remembers Michael Jordan’s comeback,” Vonn said. “I don’t think that tarnished his legacy at all. … I’ve already succeeded. I’ve already won.”
Vonn retired in 2019 after a career that included 82 World Cup victories—a women’s record at the time—and medals across multiple disciplines. A partial knee replacement in spring 2024 eliminated chronic pain and enabled her return to competitive training. She credits improved nutrition and pain-free movement for what she describes as possibly the best physical condition of her life.
The 2026 Olympics’ location in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, proved decisive in her decision to unretire. Vonn earned her first World Cup podium there and later broke the women’s win record on the same slopes. “I don’t think I would have tried this comeback if the Olympics weren’t in Cortina,” she said. “There’s something special about Cortina that always pulls me back, and it’s pulled me back one last time.”
Her comeback timeline includes training at Copper Mountain, Colorado, in November and racing in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in December. If she qualifies, Vonn intends to compete in downhill, super-G, and the team combined events—disciplines in which she previously won gold in downhill (2010 Vancouver) and bronze in both downhill and super-G (2018 Pyeongchang).
While acknowledging her age relative to younger U.S. teammates and international rivals, Vonn rejected the notion of merely participating. “There’s not a world in which I would be happy with not qualifying for the Olympics,” she said, adding that her self-imposed standards exceed external expectations.
Vonn’s father views the endeavor as her most pressurized yet, but she remains unfazed. “I’m the harshest critic of anyone,” she said. “No matter what expectation the world has on me, I definitely have higher expectations.”
