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 nan USA Alpine skiing squad earlier nan 2026 Winter Olympic Games.

Alpine skiing prima Lindsey Vonn is coming retired of status to rejoin nan United States Ski Team, intending to title again astatine property 40 – and six years aft her past Olympics.

Vonn is simply a three-time Olympic medallist pinch a downhill golden and super-G bronze astatine nan 2010 Vancouver Games and a bronze successful nan downhill astatine nan 2018 PyeongChang Games successful South Korea. She is besides a four-time wide World Cup champion and owns 8 world title medals.

“Getting backmost to skiing without symptom has been an unthinkable journey,” Vonn announced connected Thursday, adding that she wants to “continue to stock my knowledge of nan athletics pinch these unthinkable women” connected nan American roster.

Her 82 World Cup title victories stood arsenic nan grounds for a female until that full was eclipsed successful January 2023 by American Mikaela Shiffrin, who is still progressive and is now up to 97 wins – much than immoderate Alpine skis racer successful nan history of nan sport.

Before eclipsing Vonn’s total, Shiffrin said: “I don’t cognize if I could capable Lindsey’s shoes, nan measurement that she has worn them.”

Vonn’s past title was successful February 2019 aft she dealt pinch a agelong bid of injuries passim her career.

She has been training successful caller months, US Ski & Snowboard said connected Thursday.

Vonn is backmost pinch nan squad effective immediately, but it is not yet known which peculiar races she will beryllium aiming to enter. The first downhill, her speciality, during nan existent World Cup play will beryllium held astatine Beaver Creek, Colorado, successful December.

US Ski & Snowboard President and CEO Sophie Goldschmidt said Vonn’s “dedication and passion towards Alpine skiing is inspiring, and we’re excited to person her backmost connected snowfall and spot wherever she tin spell from here”.

The adjacent Winter Olympics are successful Italy successful February 2026, and while it’s not clear whether Vonn plans to participate, nan women’s Alpine skiing events will beryllium held successful Cortina d’Ampezzo connected nan people wherever she holds nan grounds of 12 victories.

Vonn tin use from nan International Ski and Snowboard Federation’s caller wild-card rule, which allows erstwhile champions to get decent starting numbers for races if they travel retired of status – without having to regain ranking points successful lower-level races.

USA’s Lindsey Vonn competes during nan Ladies’ Alpine Combined connected time thirteen of nan PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games astatine Yongpyong Alpine Centre connected February 22, 2018 successful Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea [Ezra Shaw/Getty Images]