Lindsey Vonn begins a new ski season at age 41 with the Olympics in Cortina on her mind

The word “home” comes up a lot when Lindsey Vonn talks about Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

“Every athlete kind of has their mountain where they feel most at home. For me, it’s always been Cortina, and Lake Louise, those are my two favorite spots,” Vonn said at a Team USA news conference in New York in October. “I just have a good connection with the mountain. I know what it needs, I know what it takes to win there. It’s really where I figured out how to truly race World Cup downhill. And I just, I love the town, I love the atmosphere. Everyone there has always welcomed me and treated me like a local.”

That’s why, as she contemplated a comeback to ski racing last year after having a partial replacement of her right knee, Cortina, the venue for the women’s Alpine competition at the 2026 Winter Olympics, “was always there” as a goal.

Vonn begins her pursuit of a fifth Olympics at age 41 in earnest with her first World Cup races of the season in St. Moritz, Switzerland, this weekend. She had the fastest time in downhill training Wednesday. As she tries to rack up the World Cup results necessary to qualify for the U.S. team by Jan. 18, she continues to carry a piece of another home — Buck Hill — with her.

Vonn returned to her native Minnesota in September to speak at the memorial service of Erich Sailer, her coach at the Burnsville ski area starting at age 7. She credits Sailer, who died in August at age 99, with the best advice she’s received in her career.

“Erich was just always a coach that demanded the best of you, but also encouraged you,” Vonn said. “He was always my biggest supporter, but wasn’t afraid to tell me what I was doing wrong. Definitely never afraid to tell me what I was doing wrong. And I think his advice to me, to be myself, to not change my skiing, but that I took to mean not change myself, I think, has always resonated with me throughout my whole life.”

Unencumbered by injuries and pain, Vonn sounds very much like her aggressive, speed-seeking, risk-taking self. A three-time Olympic medalist, Vonn collected 82 World Cup wins and the most downhill wins (43) of any skier before retiring in 2019.

“Board calls are nice, but they’re not really the same as downhill,” she said. “And investing is great, but it’s also not the same. You know, I built a great life outside of skiing, but there will never be anything like skiing.”

Looking for an edge this season, she hired Norwegian Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal, who also retired in 2019, as a coach.

“He knows the line that men ski. And that’s the type of edge that I need,” Vonn said. “You know, I need to be able to push the limits in a way that the other women are not willing to.”

When Vonn returned to the World Cup circuit in December 2024, eight months after having knee surgery, she had two top-six finishes in her first three races. But it was her silver medal in the super G in Sun Valley, Idaho, in the season finale in March that she said silenced critics of her comeback.

“Everyone told me I couldn’t, and I knew what I was capable of doing,” she said, “and I showed the world that I could.”

Vonn remains the oldest woman to win an Olympic medal in Alpine skiing, with her bronze in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games at age 33. She’s not concerned about tarnishing her legacy; she’s instead trying to make a point about elite female athletes competing in their 40s.

“I hope I change the viewpoint of having women compete at an older age,” she said. “That’s what I want. I want it to be normal for women to compete longer.”

But she might not be doing any of it if Cortina wasn’t the destination. It’s where she won 12 races, captured her first World Cup podium and broke the women’s World Cup wins record.