Lindsey Vonn Places 6th at First World Cup Race Since Returning to Competition: ‘I Know I Can Be Faster’

Lindsey Vonn is aiming to get back to the top of the competition.

Two months after she announced her decision to come out of retirement, the 40-year-old U.S. Olympian returned to the World Cup downhill slopes in St. Anton, Austria, on Saturday, Jan. 11, where she took sixth place.

The Audi FIS Ski World Cup competition was Vonn’s first in six years, and despite a great start where she reached a peak speed of 77 mph, she ultimately ended the race 0.58 seconds behind the winner, Italy’s Federica Brignone, according to the Associated Press.

Vonn eventually slid down to sixth place — prompting her to note that she “was a little bit happier with fifth place” — after several other competitors challenged the slope, including Switzerland’s Malorie Blanc, 21, who finished 0.07 seconds after Brignone, 34, during her World Cup debut, the AP reported. 

While reflecting on her run, Vonn told broadcaster Eurosport, per the AP, “That was fun,” while noting that she believed she could still do better. “I still made a couple of mistakes,” she said. “I know I can be faster.”

“I haven’t started outside the top 30 since I was probably 17 years old,” she continued. “All things considered, it was a great start.”

The skier also noted, per the outlet, that she felt more “confident and comfortable” on the downhill than the “super-G,” which she is set to compete in on Sunday, Jan. 12.

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This marks Vonn’s second race since she revealed in an interview with The New York Times in November that she was returning to competitive skiing after having a successful right-knee replacement surgery. She said at the time that her return to the sport was “amazing and definitely not planned.”

“I had a smile so wide it was coming through the back of my helmet,” she told the outlet. “I’m trying not to get too far ahead of myself because I have quite a few hoops to jump through. Obviously, I wouldn’t be doing this if I didn’t hope to be racing. I have aspirations. I love to go fast. How fast can I go? I don’t know.”

In December, Vonn celebrated her first competition back on the slopes, writing on Instagram, “It’s been 2,162 days since my last World Cup race (almost 6 years!) but yesterday I got back in the starting gate and competed once again.” 

She took part in the Super G race in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Dec. 21, finishing in 14th place. The athlete called her performance at the event “a perfect place to start,” teasing, “This is only the beginning.” 

Throughout her decorated career, Vonn has won four World Cup overall championships, eight World Cup season titles, a gold medal and a bronze medal in the 2010 Winter Olympics, and another bronze medal at the 2018 Olympics.