US skiing star Lindsey Vonn eyes Olympic hurrah after bowing out of world c’ships

SAALBACH, Austria – Twenty years on from her world championship debut, there was no fairy-tale ending for United States star Lindsey Vonn in the women’s team combined in Saalbach on Feb 11.

But one of global sport’s most recognisable figures insisted she was hoping for a more successful Olympic hurrah at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Games.

Vonn struggled during the downhill section of her event, finishing a massive 2.54 seconds off teammate Lauren Macuga’s lead pace. The deficit was too much for her combined team partner A.J. Hurt to make up in the slalom, and the pair finished 16th.

“It was not a fast run!” said the 40-year-old Vonn, who was making her comeback after retiring following a downhill bronze at the 2019 world championships.

A raft of former skiers and commentators have openly questioned her sanity following her decision to come out of retirement, made possible after a titanium reconstruction of her knee.

Vonn has called the finger-wagging “inappropriate and disrespectful”, hinting she had been picked on because of being a woman. But she added there will always be critics and that a life without “haters” probably means she is not performing.

“I honestly can’t tell you what is going wrong,” she said of her performances in Saalbach, topped by a 15th-placed finish in the downhill, citing equipment issues.

“Right now, technically, I’m skiing better than I was before. But on the gliding, I am not fast, so that’s something that I’ve never had a problem with, and I just need to figure it out.

“I have a year to figure it out, and I think I will. But right now, it’s hard to really change your entire set-up while you’re racing the world championships.”

Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion with 82 World Cup victories, made her world championship debut in Bormio in 2005 and went on to win eight medals in nine world meets.

Those included two golds in 2009 in Val-d’Isère, as well as two silvers in 2007 in Are.

She is hoping her longevity stretches to the Olympics in 2026, when she predicts the US team should prosper, naming downhill winner Breezy Johnson – who won the combined with Mikaela Shiffrin – and super-G bronze medallist Macuga.

“I think everyone stepped it up this year. You know, it’s really fun to see when we were training in November, when I first came with the team, the potential.

“We’re skiing really, really well. In Cortina, these girls all have capabilities of being on the podium, which is a matter of putting the pieces together when it counts.

“I have nothing but positive things to say about my team, and I am really excited for the Olympics next year because across the board, we have a lot of talent and a lot of potential.

“I know we’re going to do incredible things together.”

Vonn vowed she would be going “full throttle over spring and summer to really get things going”.

“It was really important to stand at the starting gate with a clear mind and execute my plan, to feel the butterflies of a big event, and to know that I’ve done what I came to do.

“I might not have been as fast as I wanted, but from my side, I executed my game plan. And that’s the biggest positive that I take away from this week, is that I executed when I needed to. I didn’t make any major mistakes.”

Vonn said her downfall on the road back to competition had been her lack of patience.

“I know I expect to do better, and everyone else expects me to do better. But at the same time, I do need a little bit of grace and patience and kindness to just give me some time to figure it all out.

“It’s not like I don’t know what to do. It’s not like I can’t do it. I just need time to put all the pieces together.” AFP