Vonn, 40, takes 14th in super-G in WCup return

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland — Lindsey Vonn took a low-risk approach and finished 14th in a super-G on Saturday to mark her return to World Cup skiing at age 40.

Vonn crossed the line 1.18 seconds behind Austrian winner Cornelia Huetter.

It was the American standout’s first World Cup race after nearly six years of retirement.

“This was the perfect start,” Vonn said. “Today is just the first step, and I’m not looking for more. Today I really needed to get to the finish. I wanted to have a solid result. And that’s exactly what I did.”

Vonn lost time early in her run but nearly matched the top finishers in the middle and bottom sections of the Corviglia course.

When she reached the finish and saw her time, Vonn flashed a wide smile and waved to the crowd.

“I didn’t risk anything with the line. I was a little bit conservative in some sections, but overall I skied really well. Now I just need my top section to be a little faster and I’ll be in really good shape,” said Vonn, who is planning to race another super-G in St. Moritz on Sunday.

Vonn had to cut her career short in 2019 due to a series of crashes and injuries, but she had knee replacement surgery in April and had two titanium pieces inserted into her right knee. Her knee feels better than it has in years, so she decided to come back.

Vonn left the tour with 82 World Cup wins — the record for a woman at the time and within reach of the then Alpine career mark of 86 held by Swedish men’s standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s record held by Vonn was eclipsed in January 2023 by American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has an outright record 99 wins.

Shiffrin, who shares the record of five wins in St. Moritz with Vonn, isn’t racing this weekend as she recovers from abdominal surgery to clean out a puncture wound she sustained in a crash last month.

Vonn took advantage of a new wild-card rule that allows former champions to enter races without the necessary points.

Eight-time overall World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher also took advantage of the wild-card rule and returned this season after five years away. But Hirscher tore his left ACL while training in giant slalom and announced earlier this month that his comeback season was done.

Vonn is attempting to enter uncharted territory in terms of success at an advanced age in women’s skiing.

The oldest woman to win a World Cup race was Federica Brignone, the Italian who won the giant slalom in Soelden, Austria, in October to start this season at age 34. The oldest man to win a race was Didier Cuche at 37 in a super-G in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in 2012.

Johan Clarey set the record for the oldest podium finisher with a second-place result in the famed Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria, at age 42 in January 2023.