All About Alpine Ski Racer Lindsey Vonn, Who’s Coming Out of Retirement for the 2026 Winter Olympics

Skiing doesn’t stop with her

After multiple injuries—she’s torn ligaments in her right knee, broke her arm, fractured her ankle, and even sliced her thumb on a champagne bottle (been there!)—Lindsey Vonn is ready for a comeback at the 2026 Winter Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. And despite her latest injury (she crashed during the final downhill on January 30, exactly one week before the start of the Milano Cortina Olympics), the alpine ski racer took to social media soon after to say, “My Olympic dream is not over.”

In a statement posted to Instagram, Lindsey wrote, “I crashed today in the Downhill race in Switzerland and injured my left knee. I am discussing the situation with my doctors and team and will continue to undergo further exams. This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics…but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback.”

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Lindsey originally retired in 2019 because of her many injuries, but—following a partial knee replacement in 2024—she’s back and ready to take on her fifth Winter Games. She’s already the most decorated female World Cup downhill skier, with Olympic gold and bronze medal under her belt already. Back in December, she even became the oldest woman—at 41—to win a World Cup race, taking the top spot in St. Moritz, Switzerland. And we can’t wait to see what’s next for her!

Here’s what else you should know about the downhill champ.

She’s never wanted to do anything else

Lindsey was born on October 18, 1984 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, and she moved to Vail, Colorado, when she was 11 years old to start training. She was determined to be the best, even as a kid. “I would finish a race and all the 14-year-olds at the bottom would be crying because a 10-year-old had beaten them," she said in an interview with the New York Times.

Skiing runs in her blood

Her grandpa was a competitive ski jumper and her dad, Alan Kildow, was a junior national ski champion. They both taught her how to ski basically as soon as she could walk.

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Medical scares don’t faze her

At the 2006 Turin Olympics, she crashed during training and was airlifted to get medical care. She returned 48 hours later with a bruised hip to race and finished in eighth place. "That [incident] changed my whole mindset of how much I appreciate what I do and understanding that it could be over at any minute," she told Elle (via Romper). "It gave me a different perspective on everything."

She has also broken her right pinkie, disjointed her spine, and fractured her funny bone, which doesn't sound funny at all.

She’s a successful author

Her health and fitness book, Strong Is the New Beautiful, made her a New York Times Bestseller, and she then followed that one up with her memoir, Rise.

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She started the Lindsey Vonn Foundation in 2015 to give scholarships to women and hosts events to get them involved in sports. When she retires (again), she wants to make her foundation her main focus.