Lindsey Vonn Wins 2nd World Cup Downhill Event of Season Ahead of 2026 Olympics

Lindsey Vonn won her second downhill race of the 2025-26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season on Saturday, making history once again in the process.

The 41-year-old Vonn was victorious in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria, beating out second-place finisher Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway by 0.37 seconds. Vonn became the oldest winner of a downhill race in World Cup history, besting her own mark set last month.

Speaking to reporters after her second win of the season, Vonn said, "It feels amazing. I try to enjoy every single second I am out here because it is just so fun to go fast. ... I knew what it was going to take to win today. It was a sprint, and I had to give it everything I had, definitely had to risk a little bit."

Vonn, who came out of retirement in 2024 after undergoing knee replacement surgery, is currently atop the World Cup downhill standings by virtue of her two victories, one second-place finish and one third-place finish.

She was the downhill gold medalist at the 2010 Winter Olympics and bronze medalist at the 2018 Winter Olympics, as well as the downhill world champion in 2009.

However, Vonn did not compete at the 2022 Winter Games after retiring in 2019 due to injuries, and there was no indication that an Olympic return in 2026 was a possibility until recently.

Now that Vonn has two World Cup wins under her belt and leads the standings at 41 years of age, though, all signs point toward her making the United States Olympic team and perhaps being the gold medal favorite in the downhill at Milano Cortina in Italy.

Vonn is also third in the World Cup super-G standings, and she is set to run her next super-G race on Sunday. A strong performance in that race will potentially put her in position to be a super-G medal contender at the Olympics as well.

The downhill represents Vonn's best chance to return to the Olympic podium, though, and the downhill gold medal race at the Milano Cortina Games is scheduled for less than one month from now on Feb. 8.