Olympic ski champion Lindsey Vonn comes out of retirement before 2026 games

The 40-year-old returns from a five-year hiatus and is rejoining the USA Alpine skiing team before the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Alpine skiing star Lindsey Vonn is coming out of retirement to rejoin the United States Ski Team, intending to race again at age 40 – and six years after her last Olympics.

Vonn is a three-time Olympic medallist with a downhill gold and super-G bronze at the 2010 Vancouver Games and a bronze in the downhill at the 2018 PyeongChang Games in South Korea. She is also a four-time overall World Cup champion and owns eight world championship medals.

“Getting back to skiing without pain has been an incredible journey,” Vonn announced on Thursday, adding that she wants to “continue to share my knowledge of the sport with these incredible women” on the American roster.

Her 82 World Cup race victories stood as the record for a woman until that total was eclipsed in January 2023 by American Mikaela Shiffrin, who is still active and is now up to 97 wins – more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport.

Before eclipsing Vonn’s total, Shiffrin said: “I don’t know if I could fill Lindsey’s shoes, the way that she has worn them.”