Lindsey Vonn received praise from Eileen Gu as she heads to her fifth Olympics in Cortina, beginning in February. Gu will take the freeskiing course in the upcoming Winter Games, after making history in her debut edition in Beijing 2022. After a six-year retirement phase, Vonn returned to competition in the 2024–25 season and has continued her comeback into the 2025–26 campaign.
Lindsey Vonn Gets Commended by Eileen Gu for Making an Inspiring Olympic Comeback
Vonn was the first U.S. woman to win Olympic downhill gold at the 2010 Games and the first to surpass the legendary Ingemar Stenmark’s Crystal Globe tally. She cited persistent injuries when she retired from alpine skiing in 2019. But following knee replacement surgery in 2024, the 41-year-old realized she still had more left in her to ski again.
Vonn resumed her journey last season, earning her first podium finish in seven years at the Sun Valley World Cup stop. She has continued to place among the top competitors this season, winning downhill gold as the oldest skier in history before following it up with another victory in Zauchensee.
She also racked up more medals in her signature speed events, setting herself up for her final trip to the Olympics before capping off her skiing career in flying colors. In a recent Instagram post by Laureus Sport, freeskier Gu hailed Vonn as a skier who defied the odds on the slopes, not only reaching the top but also maintaining her place and even making more history by coming back.
“Happy to say that Lindsay’s a good friend of mine. Incredible skier, and so cool to see her come back like that and defy any possible negative expectation. Trusting just herself and her ability fully. There’s a reason that she’s the best. She’s back for more, and I’m so excited for her. I’m so proud of her. It’s hard to get to the top, much harder to stay there, and it’s even harder to leave and come back and get back to the top again. So really, really happy for her,” she said.
Vonn will be in action with the U.S. team from Feb. 6 to 22, 2026. Gu, who became the youngest Olympic champion in freestyle skiing after winning gold medals in big air and halfpipe, will compete from Feb. 7 to 21.
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Vonn amassed 82 World Cup wins during her career and retired in 2019 with a sense of fulfillment, never expressing any regret about missing out. She reiterated the same in a recent Instagram post that also featured her glamorous Self magazine photoshoot. Vonn clarified that her return had nothing to do with incomplete goals but was simply something she wanted to do for herself.
The Olympic gold medalist earned her first World Cup podium in Cortina in 2004, winning bronze in the downhill. She said the Cortina Games this year would be a ‘full-circle’ moment for her.
