STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Lindsey Vonn charged out of the gate on Sun Valley’s demanding Challenger Super-G course Sunday afternoon. She screamed through the Steilhang Traverse, flew off the Frontier jump, and then she turned on the acid burners as she saw the finish line at the bottom.

When she crossed it, she didn’t have to look at the scoreboard to tell she’d done something extraordinary—the crowd’s roar said it all. The 40-year-old ski legend pumped both ski poles in the air, then pumped them again. Then she pumped her fist multiple times in the direction of the crowd.

And, later, on the awards stage, she would cry—emotional tears of happiness.

John Boydston caught this shot of Lindsey Vonn as she crossed the finish line into second place.

Vonn snagged her first World Cup podium spot since March 2018 on a Sunday afternoon in Sun Valley, when she took second—1.29 seconds behind Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami. Gut-Behrami had a near-perfect run to take the season World Cup Super-G title away from Italy’s Federica Brignone.

Brignone, who had led Gut-Behrami by five points in the overall standings prior to Sunday’s race, finished third. finished third—0.04 behind Vonn. Gut-Behrami ended up with 100 points to Brignone’s 60.

But Vonn, who crossed the finish line in 1:13.64, seemed the most elated, having come out of retirement just four months earlier.Before her, the oldest woman to have won a podium is believed to be Austria's Alexandra Meissnitzer at 34 years and nine months.

Vonn accepted congratulations from former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has a home in Sun Valley. She danced to rap music with her teammates. And she even kissed Spuddy Buddy, the Idaho Potato Commission’s mascot.

Lindsey Vonn said hearing the crowd brings out the best in her.

“I really wanted to do well at home,” she said. “Very rarely have I been able to ski a speed event on home soil. The snow here is just like the dry snow at home in Vail for me. I felt really comfortable on it.”

Vonn said she knew midway down the mountain that she was in a good position.

“I just tried to really stay focused all the way to the finish. There were turns all the way down that could catch you, and I tried to be smart,” she said. “I watched Laurena Macuga ski out of competition and realized I was the only other American in the field. I usually do better when the pressure is higher. It’s the last race of the season, and I just put it all on the line. This is the level I know I can ski. I know I can do even better.”

Vonn made her World Cup debut at 16 in 2000. She has won 20 World Cup titles, including four overall Crystal Globes and eight World championship medals. She has 137 World Cup podiums and 82 World Cup victories.

Lindsey Vonn was so happy she even tried to kiss Spuddy Buddy, the Idaho Potato Commission’s mascot.

This was her 138th time on the podium in 408 World Cup start, putting her in third place behind Sweden’s Ingemar Stenmark with 155 podium finishes and Vonn’s teammate Mikaela Shiffrin with 156. She is within one start of tying the most World Cup starts for a woman, which made Saturday’s cancellation of the Downhill races due to windy conditions particularly hard.

Vonn admitted it’s been a hard road since she decided to make a comeback, following a partial knee replacement that erased the physical pain that forced her into retirement in 2019.

“It’s really hard work, but that’s what it takes—putting one foot in front of the other and getting through the hard days. When you keep putting one foot in front of the other, it leads to a place like today,” she said. “I’ve been knocked down so many times in my life personally, physically, mentally, beat down and I always pick myself back up.”

Vonn finished 14th in Super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland this season and sixth in downhill and fourth in a Super-G in St. Anton, Austria. But she had three did-not finishes in four races after that.

Italy’s Federica Brignone, Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami and Italy’s Sofia Goggia placed second, first and third in the overall World Cup Super-G standings this season, earning Gut-Behrami the Crystal Globe. “Two days ago, I finally found the happiness again on skis,” she said. “It’s easier to ski fast when you’re enjoying it.”

“It’s been a rough season of people saying I can’t, that I’m too old, that I’m not good enough anymore. And I think I’ve proven everyone wrong,” she said. “I answered a lot of people’s doubts. And I never doubted myself. Age is just a number. If you feel good and you’re mentally  driven and work hard, you can achieve anything you set your mind to.”

Vonn noted that her father raced at Sun Valley before she.

“He was talking about the course, trying to give me advice and I’m like, ‘Dad, I don’t think it’s the same course that you ran in the 1960s—they just made this one from scratch.’ But I love his enthusiasm and the fact that he drove with my brother 11 hours to be here today. My Dad always talked about ‘Rocky’ forever. You know, you get knocked down, you pick yourself back up. That’s just what my family does. Strength.”

Vonn says she can’t wait to go home and relax now that the seasons over. And then she wants to get back to testing her equipment, which has been the hardest part to get right in her comeback.

She is gunning for one more year, hoping to compete in her fifth Olympics at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. She has three Olympic medals and wouldn’t mind having a few more to hang in her home.

“Medaling at the World Cup Finals here has given me confidence heading towards next year.”

Vonnadded that it felt good to be finally rewarded after the hard work she put into the season.

“It was joy. It was relief. It was satisfaction that this venture that I set myself on was worth something—not for nothing,” she said. “I never doubted myself. That’s the only reason I’m on the podium today because I always believe in myself.”

Vonn’s teammate Lauren Macuga did not finish her race after losing her balance midway down the course and missing a gate. But she was happy for Vonn.

“Everyone was saying she couldn’t do it, but we knew she could do it,” she said. “She’s just got to dial it in and figure her equipment out.”  

Macuga said she was all pumped out, ready to go all out at the top of the course.

“I was charging up top. Coming into the jump, I was fine, going a little bit faster. But, after the jump, I couldn’t get over the outside ski enough and got a little caught up in the snow. Tried to save it but both inside edges were trailing.”

Macuga didn’t know what to do at that point as she’d never registered a DNF (did not finish).

“I was, like, I guess I’ll just ski the course. And I was, like, well, shoot I’m at home with this amazing crowd. And so I did. Luckily, I get one more shot on Tuesday in the Giant Slalom.

“This is not the end of it. I’ve got to show what I’ve actually got. It was so unfortunate we didn’t get to race the downhill because I really like this downhill, but I know they did everything they could, given the weather. And I’m so excited for tonight’s 5850 Fest, to hang out with all the people and have some fun and experience Sun Valley.”

The 2025 Audi FIS World Cup Finals resumes on Tuesday with the first runs of the Women’s Giant Slalom starting at 9:30 a.m. and the second set of runs at noon.