Lindsey Vonn recorded her first World Cup victory in nearly eight years after earning top honors in a downhill event on Friday in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Vonn, 41, also became the oldest woman to win a World Cup race by finishing in 1 minute, 29.63 seconds. Her time was 0.98 seconds and 1.16 seconds better than Austrians Magdalena Egger and Mirjam Puchner, respectively, who rounded out the podium.
It was Vonn’s 83rd World Cup victory and first since she won in Are, Sweden, in March 2018.
Vonn celebrated by collapsing safely in the snow with a wide grin stretched across her face. She then mimicked Golden State Warriors star guard Stephen Curry’s “night, night” pose before raising her arms in triumph.
After the race, Vonn was quick to credit her new coach Aksel Lund Svindal, who was a 36-time World Cup winner during his racing career.
“We worked really hard, not just me but my whole team, from the equipment to the physical training, also hired Aksel,” she said, via TNT Sports. “… I knew I was skiing fast, but you never know until the first race. I think I was a little faster than I expected. I think I had a great run.”
Vonn was the 2010 Olympic downhill champion and also won bronze in the Super-G that year and a bronze medal in the downhill in Pyeongchang in 2018. She came out of retirement to make a run at her fifth Olympics appearance at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games in February.
“Obviously my goal is Cortina but if this is the way we start, I think I’m in a good spot,” Vonn said.
Breezy Johnson was the second-best American finisher on Friday. She ended up in 15th place, with teammates Isabella Wright (16th) and Jacqueline Wiles (18th) close by.
–Field Level Media
