Lindsey Vonn Is Embracing Singlehood After Split from Boyfriend — and Says New Titanium Knee Changed Her Life (Exclusive)

Lindsay Vonn is a newly bionic woman who just placed 4th and 6th in her races at the Alpine Ski Championships in Austria after six years away from the slopes. Her secret? A new titanium knee — and a new lease on life.

"I was in so much pain," the 82-time World Cup winner, 40, tells PEOPLE of living with knee issues for so long. "It was so bad I could barely ski with my friends, let alone try a downhill course."

She continues, "The partial knee replacement changed my life. Not only did it take my pain away, but it allowed me to go back to what I love to do, which is skiing."

Coming out of retirement is not the only way life has recently changed for Vonn, 40, who notes that she's single again after splitting with longtime boyfriend Diego Osorio.

"Valentine's Day will look a little different for me this year," she says. "But I have my two dogs, so they'll be my Valentine's dates. They travel with me as much as they can."

Vonn, who spent the past six years focusing on her foundation and joining the board of several companies, adds, "I think with everything that's going on in my life, I sometimes have to keep reminding myself that it's a tough road, but I'm doing what I love to do and I'm very lucky to be able to do it. But it doesn't mean that it's easy, and doesn't mean that it's not lonely at times."

After she decided to get back into racing, she never thought she'd be doing it so soon.

"I didn't even expect it," she says of getting back into competition just eight months after her knee replacement. Vonn says she was hoping to just get back into training so she could participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics, and found she was ready to race. "There's still a lot of work to be done, but generally, I'm in good shape."

Related: Who Is Lindsey Vonn's Boyfriend? All About Diego Osorio

Being back with her ski family has helped.

"It's awesome," she says. "I've had such a good time just being able to go fast again and to feel the adrenaline of racing and to be around my team and my coaches and all my friends from the World Cup again. It's kind of like a family. I missed being around that, and everyone welcomed me with open arms."

She does say that it's funny to be participating with women half her age.

"My teammate Lauren Macuga likes to remind me that I raced in my first Olympics before she was born, so that's nice," she says. "But I've got quite a bit of experience on them, not just on the race course, so hopefully I can help them in whatever they need, and be a supportive teammate."

Read the original article on People