40-year-old Lindsey Vonn happy with downhill comeback

Lindsey Vonn has finished 24th and 27th in lower-level FIS downhill races as she returned from retirement to compete for the first time in nearly six years at the Copper Mountain resort.

The 40-year-old American Olympic great, on the comeback trail after stepping away from the sport because of injuries, wound up 1.44 seconds behind the winning time of 1 minute, 5.79 seconds posted by Mirjam Puchner, of Austria, in her opening race.

Then, in a race later on Saturday, she came three places lower, this time 1.53 seconds behind another Austrian winner, Cornelia Hutter.

"Today was a solid start and I had a blast being in the start with my teammates again!

"While I'm sure people will speculate and say I'm not in top form because of the results, I disagree. This was training for me. I'm still testing equipment and getting back in the groove," Vonn said on X.

"This is only the beginning and the way I'm skiing is more important than the times at this point. Now I have the FIS points to race World Cup so that's a successful day! Thanks to everyone who helped put on the races!"

Moments after crossing the finish line in the first race, Vonn bent over to catch her breath. She then went over to the crowd to sign autographs and pose for photos before taking the ski lift back up the mountain.

Vonn is competing in a series of FIS races in an effort to gain the necessary results to lower her ranking so she possibly can enter World Cup events later this season.

When she left the sport, Vonn's 82 World Cup race victories stood as the record for a woman and within reach of the all-time Alpine record of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women's mark held by Vonn was surpassed in January 2023 by Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has 99 wins.

Vonn's last major race was in February 2019, when she finished third in a downhill during the world championships in Sweden.

The three-time Olympic medallist left the circuit still near the top of her game. But all the broken arms and legs, concussions and torn knee ligaments 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.