Lindsey Vonn skis like she did back then, she is (almost) as fast as she was back then – and she speaks like she did back then: After the first downhill training in St. Anton, she said in Vonn’s style and in the same wording as in 2007: “It takes eggs down here.”
Vonn is at the Arlberg World Cup for the third time. In 2007 she dominated the races there – back then she won the downhill and the super combined. At the time, the American was 23 years old – and still had her “own” knee. Today, 40 years old, after a five-year break from the World Cup and with a partial knee prosthesis, the conditions are different. She proved in St. Moritz, where she immediately came 14th in the Super-G, that the American is still one of the world’s top speed athletes.
Vonn: Ready to go?
But even for the speed queen, the downhill comeback will be a different story. Downhill training is more complex and only a few ski areas allow ski teams to train the discipline. Vonn has only completed ten downhill training sessions as part of her comeback project. Nevertheless she said: “I feel better in the downhill than in the Super-G, I’m still getting used to the set-up, I had new shoes today. I’m trying to figure something out every day. I don’t have the perfect set-up yet. I Use these days.”
Second Downhill training cancelled
Even for the former fastest woman in the world, the demanding route won’t be a walk in the park. On the “Karl Schranz” piste in St. Anton you have to drive with courage, especially the steep “Eisfall” sections and the undulating “Fang” section require courage. Vonn’s conclusion after the first training session: “I felt good, but it wasn’t my best skiing by any means, but I had a few good turns. I haven’t skied in conditions like that again – very snappy and very soft. I had a lot of mistakes. But in one I drove well in a few sections.”
Lindsey Vonn has already won everything there is to win in ski racing: gold at the Olympic Games, world championship title, the overall World Cup, she was at the top of 82 World Cups. Vonn skied her last World Cup downhill to date on January 19, 2019 in Cortina d’Ampezzo (9th). At the World Championships in Are, Sweden, in February, she celebrated a bronze medal in the discipline. And even after her (first) career, the American didn’t stop inspiring: In January 2023, she plunged down the Streif in Kitzbühel, the most difficult and dangerous downhill route – at night. Although Vonn only drove the Streif in individual sections, for her it was still a dream that came true.
On Saturday, Vonn will be back in the World Cup downhill starting house after a year-long break. The second training session in St. Anton, which was planned for Friday, was canceled due to fresh snow. For Vonn, who is still tinkering with the set-up and who has hardly trained in recent years, this means that an important day of training will be lost in order to build up the old feeling again.
Weidle-Winkelmann and Aicher: DSV speed team is looking for form
But Kira Weidle-Winkelmann also desperately needed the session: at the first speed weekend of the season in Beaver Creek in the USA, the 28-year-old fell during training, had to skip the downhill race due to a gastrointestinal infection and fell in the super G out the next day. In St. Moritz she came 22nd.
The second athlete in the German mini speed team, Emma Aicher, is currently still looking for her form: She came 43rd in the downhill in Beaver Creek and 28th in the Super-G. In St. Moritz she came 16th the two more – they also proved that last season: Weidle-Winkelmann raced onto the podium twice, Emma Aicher had her top ten potential with a sixth place (St. Moritz) demonstrated.
In St. Anton, Weidle-Winkelmann and Aicher have the chance to build on these results. With Lindsey Vonn, however, it remains to be seen whether she still has the “balls” to reach the top of the world.