Lindsey Vonn set for first World Cup downhill of Alpine skiing comeback

Lindsey Vonn races her first World Cup downhill in six years, live this weekend on Peacock.

Vonn, who at age 40 came back this season after retiring in 2019, is expected to race a downhill on Saturday and super-G on Sunday. Both are scheduled for 5:15 a.m. ET in St. Anton, Austria.

Vonn began her World Cup comeback on Dec. 21, placing 14th in a super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland, after training on snow for much of the fall.

She became the first woman in her 40s on record to score World Cup points by placing in the top 30 of a race. She was second among Americans behind Lauren Macuga (tied for seventh).

Vonn called it a “perfect start,” saying she took a low-risk approach to open her comeback.

She had the second-slowest opening split time at the start of the course of the 57-skier field in St. Moritz. She had the fourth- and fifth-fastest times of two later intervals.

Vonn decided to return to competition due largely to partial right knee replacement surgery in April.

“To be able to ski without pain, it’s a completely new world for me,” she said last month. “I haven’t felt this good in 15 years.”

She last raced in St. Anton in 2013. In 2007, she won a downhill and super combined there on back-to-back days.

Vonn has said she’s targeting the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, which would be her fifth Games.

The U.S. is expected to qualify to send four women per event to the Games, so Vonn’s result in St. Moritz instantly puts her in Olympic contention. The team is expected to be named next January.