As the women’s downhill at the Milan Winter Olympics approaches, Lindsey Vonn is making a bold push for gold. At 41, she returns for her fifth and final Olympic appearance, seven years after injuries forced her into retirement. With a gold and two bronzes already to her name, the American legend is determined to expand her Olympic legacy.
Vonn faced an injury setback just a week before the Games, suffering a complete ACL tear in her left knee during a World Cup race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Despite this, she has been cleared to compete in the downhill.
Lindsey Vonn’s Bid For Olympic Glory
Vonn’s season has been nothing short of remarkable, setting her up as a true contender for the Games. She claimed two World Cup downhill victories, making history as the oldest female alpine skier to win a World Cup race. She landed on the podium in all five downhills and delivered a powerful super-G performance, including a third-place finish in Val d’Isère in December 2025.
In the first downhill training on Friday, Vonn finished 11th, clocking 1:40.33Â despite foggy conditions. Today, in the second training run, she posted the third-fastest time, 1:38.28, finishing 0.37 seconds behind her U.S. teammate and leader Breezy Johnson, showing strong aggression despite a slightly unsteady landing after a jump. The session was cut short after 21 athletes due to fog and snow, but Vonn will be happy after improving by over two seconds from Friday’s run.
The women’s alpine skiing downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympics takes place on Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026, at 11:30 AM local time (UTC+1) at the Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Vonn’s Coach On Her Second Training Run
Vonn is backed by a brilliant coaching staff, including Aksel Lund Svindal, the two-time Olympic champion (super-G gold in 2010 and downhill gold in 2018), who joined her staff in the summer. After Vonn’s strong showing in the second training run, he shared his thoughts on her display.
“I think it’s everything OK, I think it’s a good run. Tomorrow is the race and it’s the Olympics and the girls will push harder. So everyone will probably go faster, meaning Lindsey would also need to go faster. But it’s a solid run, but I think she has one more gear. This is as ready as she will be and I believe that she has a good chance at being top 3.” he said, as per Olympics.com.
Vonn’s quest for gold will not be easy. She will go head-to-head with Italy’s Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic downhill champion and crowd favorite, along with formidable U.S. teammates Breezy Johnson and Jackie Wiles.
