Lindsey Vonn celebrates her second win of the season. © ANSA / CHRISTIAN BRUNA

Vonn's madness continues: 41-year-old dominates in Zauchensee

Ski superstar Lindsey Vonn has made another statement just under a month before the opening of the Winter Olympics.

10 January 2026

From: dpa/am

The 41-year-old American celebrated her second victory of the season on Saturday in the downhill race in Zauchensee, Austria. Vonn relegated Norway's Kajsa Vickhoff Lie (+0,37 seconds) and her US teammate Jacqueline Wiles (+0,48) to second and third place, respectively. Exactly ten years ago, the former speed queen celebrated her last victory in Zauchensee.

For Vonn, this is her 84th World Cup victory overall and her fifth podium finish in six starts this winter. Only in the Super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in mid-December did she narrowly miss the podium, finishing fourth.

Incredible comeback

Vonn ended her career in 2019 but returned in the fall of 2024 with a partial knee replacement. Last season, she finished second in the final race in Sun Valley, marking her first podium finish in years, and this season she celebrated her winning comeback on December 12th in the downhill in St. Moritz.

Lindsey Vonn was unbeatable. © ANSA / CHRISTIAN BRUNA

With the Winter Games in mind, Vonn is increasingly becoming the favorite. The 2010 Olympic champion is determined to compete for gold again in Cortina d'Ampezzo. She can gain further momentum in the Super-G in Zauchensee on Sunday.

Thaler celebrates best career result

Nicol Delago from Wolkenstein finished in the top ten. As the best Italian, she took ninth place, 0,74 seconds behind Vonn, thus equaling her best result of the season so far. Her sister Nadia finished in 18th place (+0,99). Sara Thaler from St. Ulrich achieved her best World Cup result to date, the 21-year-old finishing in 23rd place (+1,11). Vicky Bernardi from Gadertal finished the race in 43rd place (+2,01).

There were some scary moments during the downhill race involving Austrian local favorite Magdalena Egger. She crashed heavily and had to be airlifted by helicopter, which led to a lengthy interruption. As was announced in the evening, the 24-year-old was seriously injured.

The race on the Kälberloch course was significantly shortened due to the weather. Snowfall in recent days had already disrupted the organizers' plans.