Ex-teammates expect the best from Lindsey Vonn in return to World Cup ski racing at age 40

BEAVER CREEK, Colo. — At 47, Bode Miller will stick to developing skis and raising his kids. Same with Ted Ligety, 40, who runs a ski-gear company while chasing his children around the mountain.

Julia Mancuso is just fine with beach life these days as the 40-year-old splits her time between Hawaii and Fiji, balancing family life with a burgeoning career as a foil surfer (surfing with a hydrofoil attached to ride above the water).

The trio of well-known and well-decorated American ski racers are all content in retirement and rooting for their longtime teammate Lindsey Vonn as she returns to World Cup ski racing at 40 — with a new titanium knee — this weekend in St. Moritz, Switzerland.

They’re holding their breath, too.

“She’s one of the best there’s ever been and it’s great for the sport. I have no doubt she’ll be fast,” Miller said in a phone interview from Park City, Utah. “I just want her to stay healthy.”

Vonn retired in 2019 not because she was slowing down, but because she was broken down.

All those spills and crashes took a big toll on her. She’s broken arms and legs, suffered concussions and torn knee ligaments. She’s even been hurt celebrating, once slicing her thumb on a bottle of bubbly.

She always got back up and continued racing — until the pain became too much. Her last major race was in February 2019, when she took third in the downhill during the world championships in Sweden.

Last April, she underwent a partial right knee replacement. The pain soon dissipated.

She was doing exercises she hadn’t done in a while. She could leap 20 inches (50.8 centimeters) off a single leg, when it used to be about 10 (25.4). Her strength back, along with her resolve, she announced last month she was rejoining the U.S. Ski Team.

Her training runs have been a chance to dial in her Head skis and boots in her return after nearly six years away. She’s been embraced by teammates almost half her age — she gave detailed course reports as a forerunner last weekend in Beaver Creek — as she quickly earned enough points to be eligible to compete on the World Cup circuit.

She will race in two super-G events on Saturday and Sunday. If all goes well there, and the rest of the season, she may even hang around for the 2026 Winter Games, with ski racing held at one of her favorite venues in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

“I’m lucky,” Vonn said, “that I have this second chance.”

Of course, Mancuso misses ski racing. That’s why the four-time Olympic medalist understands the drive behind Vonn’s comeback. Mancuso didn’t fully retire on her own terms, but more due to injuries. She had a full hip replacement and “felt amazing after,” she wrote in an email. “I for sure would have considered a comeback if I didn’t have kids. So I can totally relate to Lindsey.”

These days, her husband runs a surf resort in Fiji. They spend part time there and the rest of the time in Hawaii or chasing snow.

“My kids love the snow and I am making a huge effort to foster that,” Mancuso wrote.

Mancuso isn’t surprised by Vonn’s comeback.

“The fact that she is really taking it seriously and going for it makes a great story and I wish her all the best,” Mancuso wrote. “It inspires all the old-timers out there that age is just a number. Can’t wait to see how it goes.”

Even in jest, Miller, a six-time Olympic medalist, doesn’t take long to answer if he would ever contemplate a return.

“No,” Miller said. “I would never come back.”

He’s content being cofounder and “chief innovation officer” of Peak Ski Company, along with skiing with the kids. His wife, Morgan, also plays professional volleyball for a Utah team.

Miller’s last major race was at the 2015 world championships in Beaver Creek, Colorado. He crashed in a super-G and later underwent surgery to fix a torn right hamstring tendon when his ski sliced him.

He was known for his daredevil style, which led to 33 World Cup wins and numerous wipeouts.

“My win and loss and crash records, I don’t really even think about it,” Miller said. “I know I brought something unique to the sport and to the world.”

He believes Vonn has more to contribute.

When Vonn left the tour, she had 82 World Cup wins — the record for a woman at the time and within reach of the all-time Alpine mark of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s record held by Vonn was eclipsed in January 2023 by Mikaela Shiffrin, whose 99 wins are more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport.

“She’s an amazing glider. She’s got great aerodynamics. She’s tactically really sound,” Miller said of Vonn. “She’ll probably get more wins.”

Ligety knew when it was his time to step away. The two-time Olympic champion’s body was beat up after returns from frayed cartilage in his hip, a torn ACL, metal screws that needed to be inserted into his wrist and surgery to fix herniated disks in his back. He called it quits in 2021 after 336 World Cup starts.

“I continued on well past my expiration date and didn’t finish at the top of my game,” cracked Ligety, who was dubbed “Mr. GS” by skiing great Marcel Hirscher (Ligety won 24 of his 25 World Cup wins in the discipline).

Ligety and his wife have three kids. He runs his company Shred, which makes helmets, sunglasses and goggles, and serves as head of product performance for DPS Skis.

Sometimes, Ligety misses racing. On sunny giant slalom days, he wouldn’t mind being in the starting gate.

“But most of the time when I watch it,” Ligety said, “I do not envy what they’re doing.”

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AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing