šĀ The comeback is complete, and it’s historic. Alpine skiing icon Lindsey Vonn cemented her status as one of the most tenacious athletes in sports history by claiming a silver medal in the Super-G event at the World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho, in March 2025. This spectacular performance didn’t just mark Vonn’s first podium since her 2019 retirement; it shattered a decades-old record, making her the oldest woman ever to achieve a podium finish in a FIS Alpine Ski World Cup race.
The Record-Shattering Performance
Vonn, who turned 40 in October, was 40 years and 156 days old on the day she earned her silver medal. This monumental feat broke the previous record held by Austria’s Alexandra Meissnitzer, who was 34 years and nearly nine months old when she achieved her last podium in 2008.
The race saw Vonn unleash her vintage form on the Challenger course on Bald Mountain, finishing with a time of 1:13.64. She was 1.29 seconds behind Swiss winner Lara Gut-Behrami but managed to edge out Italyās Federica Brignone by a mere 0.04 seconds, solidifying her second-place finish. This result marked her 138th career World Cup podium.
A Triumphant Answer to Skeptics
Vonnās return to the circuit in the 2024-2025 season was met with both excitement and skepticism, particularly following her partial knee replacement surgery in April 2024. Many critics suggested she was too old, too injured, or simply too far past her prime to compete at the elite level.
Vonn used her podium moment to address those doubts directly. “It’s been a rough season of people saying that I can’t, that I’m too old, that I’m not good enough anymore,” she told reporters tearfully after the race. “I think I proved everyone wrong.”
For Vonn, the silver medal was the culmination of a grueling, yet fulfilling, comeback season that saw her fight to regain stability and confidence after years away from the high-speed chaos of the World Cup. It provides a massive wave of momentum as she now sets her sights on the ultimate goal: qualifying for the Milano-Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics.