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Lindsey Vonn continued her remarkable comeback when she won her second World Cup downhill of the season at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee in Austria on Saturday.
Vonn, 41, who has had her right knee rebuilt using titanium implants, has proven she is the outstanding downhill racer heading into her fifth Winter Olympics.
On a shortened course that took her less than 67 seconds to complete, Vonn still clocked 130 km/h (81 mph) for one of the fastest speeds any women’s race will reach this season. She was 0.37 seconds faster than Kajsa Vickoff Lie in difficult, cloudy conditions.
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Lindsey Vonn splashes sparkling wine as she celebrates on the podium after winning the women’s World Cup downhill in Zauchensee, Austria, on January 10, 2026. (Giovanni Auletta/AP Photo)
“I knew what it took to win today,” she said. “It was a sprint and I had to give it everything I had, I definitely had to risk a little bit.”
Vonn returned to skiing after a six-year retirement and said she was in perhaps the best shape of her career despite undergoing partial knee replacement surgery. With each win, Vonn extends her record as the oldest race winner in the World Cup circuit’s 60-season history. Her 84th career win at the circuit was her record-extending 45th in the downhill.
LINDSEY VONN qualifies for FIFTH WINTER OLYS
Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during the women’s World Cup downhill race in Zauchensee, Austria, on January 10, 2026. (Marco Trovati/AP Photo)
Vonn extended her lead in the season-long World Cup downhill standings after finishing second and third in the other races. Saturday’s race was the fourth of nine scheduled World Cup downhill races this season.
She earned 100 race points and now leads by 129 points from Germany’s Emma Aicher, who finished sixth on Saturday. Vonn is chasing a ninth World Cup downhill season title a full 10 years after her eighth, when she also won in Zauchensee.
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Lindsey Vonn is airborne as she speeds down the track to win the women’s World Cup downhill in Zauchensee, Austria, on January 10, 2026. (Giovanni Auletta/AP Photo)
“I felt like I skied better in super-G this summer,” she said, “but when I got to the races in St. Moritz, everything worked really well right from the start.”
Vonn appears to be a strong contender for the gold medal race at the Cortina Olympics in Milan, a race she won at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.
