Vonn finishes 24th in lower-level super-G race as she makes strides in comeback to ski racing at 40

COPPER MOUNTAIN, Colo. — Lindsey Vonn finished in 24th place in the first of two lower-level super-G races on Sunday as the 40-year-old dials in her equipment and technique during her comeback to ski racing.

Vonn wound up 2.19 seconds behind the winning time of her American teammate Lauren Macuga, who flew down the course in 1 minute, 11.90 seconds. Thirty-one racers took the course on a frigid morning.

After finishing, Vonn bent over to catch her breath and then chatted with her team before heading back up for another super-G race later Sunday.

Vonn finished in the middle of the pack in two downhill events Saturday, her first races in nearly six years. They came against a competitive field, too, with many notable names on the ski racing circuit in the mix. Vonn posted on social media after the events that she had enough points to possibly enter a World Cup competition.

The women’s World Cup circuit heads to nearby Beaver Creek next weekend for a downhill and super-G. Vonn hasn’t announced a timeline for when she might take part in a World Cup race.

Vonn’s last major race was in February 2019 - a third-place finish in a downhill during the world championships in Sweden. The three-time Olympic medalist left the tour still skiing fast, but an assortment of injuries including to her knee took too big a toll and sent her into retirement.

She had a partial knee replacement last April and felt good enough to give racing another shot.

Vonn left the tour with 82 World Cup wins, which was the record for a woman at the time and within reach of the all-time Alpine mark of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s record held by Vonn was eclipsed in January 2023 by Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has 99 wins - more than any Alpine ski racer in the history of the sport.

Shiffrin is currently recovering from a crash in a giant slalom event in Killington, Vermont, last weekend. She sustained muscle trauma and an abdominal puncture wound but no ligament damage. She posted a recent video on Instagram of her gingerly taking a walk in Edwards, Colorado, carrying what she described as a “wound vacuum.”

“Things are progressing,” Shiffrin said in the video.

She won’t take part in the Beaver Creek races.