Lindsey Vonn Wins Zauchensee Downhill For 84th Career Victory
Lindsey Vonn continued her remarkable comeback season Saturday, dominating a shortened downhill on the Kälberloch course to claim her 84th career World Cup victory and extend her perfect podium streak in the Olympic year.
The 41-year-old American finished in 1:06.24, a commanding 0.37 seconds ahead of Norway's Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, with teammate Jacqueline Wiles rounding out the podium in third place, 0.48 seconds back. The result marked Vonn's second downhill win of the season and her fourth consecutive podium finish across four downhill starts.
Starting sixth out of the gate, Vonn maximized her gliding ability in the opening section before finding the fastest lines through the most technical parts over the final two sectors. Her precision and aerodynamic efficiency were on full display as she carved through big, sweeping turns in the lower half of the course, maintaining exceptional speed all the way to the finish.
Heavy overnight snowfall had forced race organizers to shorten the course and cancel Friday's second training run, creating challenging conditions with flat light and limited visibility. The track was soft early in the race order, but Vonn adapted brilliantly to the circumstances.
The race was not without its shadows. A 25-minute delay occurred after Austrian rising star Magdalena Egger—who finished second to Vonn in St. Moritz last month—suffered a season-ending crash into the safety nets. Egger was airlifted from the course with a torn ACL.
The long wait in the starting gate often rattles veterans and rookies alike, but Vonn’s experience proved decisive.
"I honestly thought with my start number that I had no chance because there was so much new snow," Vonn said after the race. "I had to risk a lot with my line to stay in the hunt... I just swung really hard. I’m just enjoying every single second because it is so fun to go fast again."
"I honestly thought with my start number I had no chance because there's so much snow and there wasn't really a track at number six," Vonn said after the race. "I thought I had to risk a lot with my line to really stay in the hunt, so I just swung really hard. I'm happy with the way I executed."
In the finish area, Norwegian legend Axel Lund Svindal perfectly captured the quality of Vonn's run: "Your balance and timing was perfect."
The victory was Vonn's 45th in World Cup downhill competition, extending her record as the most successful downhill skier in history regardless of gender. With 84 total World Cup wins, she now sits just two victories behind Ingemar Stenmark's 86 on the all-time list, trailing only Mikaela Shiffrin's 106.
The American's dominance in the discipline standings has become overwhelming. She leads with 340 points, opening a substantial gap over Germany's Emma Aicher at 216 and Austria's Cornelia Hütter at 175. Her consistency has been remarkable—four podium finishes in four downhill starts, including victories in St. Moritz and now Zauchensee.
Team USA's depth was on full display Saturday. Beyond Vonn's victory and Wiles' third-place finish, the Americans placed three athletes in the top 10, four in the top 15, and five in the top 20. Breezy Johnson, the reigning downhill world champion who has been managing a back injury since October, finished seventh.
For Wiles, the podium finish came at a crucial moment in the Olympic qualification period. It was her fourth career World Cup podium and first since 2017, when she also claimed third place at Zauchensee. The result strengthens her case for selection to the U.S. Olympic team as the qualification window narrows with only two downhill races remaining before the January 18 cutoff.
Notable absentees from the top 10 included two-time Olympic medalist Sofia Goggia of Italy, who finished 17th, nearly a second behind Vonn's winning time.
Vonn's return from retirement has evolved from a feel-good story into a genuine gold medal campaign. After announcing her comeback in November 2024 following a partial knee replacement, she shocked the skiing world by winning the season opener in St. Moritz at age 41, becoming the oldest Alpine World Cup winner in history.
The Minnesota native has maintained she views the Milan-Cortina Olympics as her final competition, calling them her "fifth and final Olympics." However, she has indicated she may continue racing through the end of the World Cup season depending on her Olympic results, potentially extending her farewell tour through late March.
Saturday's performance demonstrated that Vonn's early-season success was no fluke. Her position on the ski remains flawless, her precision unmatched, and her speed continues to leave younger competitors struggling to keep pace.
"I know exactly where I am and what I want to do, and my body is responding the way I wanted to," Vonn said. "I'm strong. I can pull tight radius, or I can make a long radius turn. Whatever I want to do, I can do it. And that's an amazing feeling because my body hasn't always been responding that way to me in the past."
The women return to action Sunday for a super-G at Zauchensee, where Vonn will look to add to her trophy collection. With the Olympics just over four weeks away, she has firmly established herself as the gold medal favorite in downhill while defying expectations about age and athletic longevity in one of the world's most demanding sports.
