Vonn placed second in the Audi FIS Ski World Cup finals on Sunday, March 23
Lindsey Vonn is smashing her sports comeback!
The Olympian, 40, broke the record as the oldest woman to have a podium finish at a World Cup after placing second in the Super-G race at the Audi FIS Ski World Cup finals in Idaho on Sunday, March 23.
The event also marked Vonn’s first podium since coming out of retirement for the competition in January, finishing 1.29 seconds in second place behind first-place winner Swiss Lara Gut-Behrami.
Vonn posted a photo on her Instagram Stories after the race of her appearing teary-eyed at the podium as she collected her medal, holding it up and kissing it proudly.
“This means so much to me ❤️,” she wrote over the image.
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Vonn also posted a clip of herself being handed a cup of champagne at the slopes and drinking it while throwing up a peace sign at the camera in celebration of her win as Cyndi Lauper’s song “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” soundtracked the moment.
The longtime athlete told NBC Sports that she “put it all on the line” for the last race in the competition and feels she’s “proved everyone wrong” who doubted her capabilities in returning to the sport.
“This is the level that I know I can ski. I know I can even do better than that,” said Vonn. “It’s been a rough season of people saying that I can’t, that I’m too old, that I’m not good enough anymore. I think I proved everyone wrong.”
In a video shared on the official Audi FIS World Cup Instagram, Vonn is seen pumping her fists in the air and cheering along with the crowd in celebration after completing her race at the bottom of the slopes in Sun Valley.
“What a moment! 🥹,” the caption read. “@lindseyvonn 🇺🇸 is BACK ON THE WORLD CUP PODIUM!”
Vonn’s record as the oldest podium finisher comes after Austrian Alexandra Meissnitzer made her last podium as the oldest skier in 2008 at 34 years and nearly 9 months, per NBC Sports.
Vonn told NBC Sports it’s been “hard to stay positive” in planning her comeback to the sport. “Especially because people are telling me that I should just quit — again,” she noted.
“When you love something and you work hard at something, it feels really good when you’re finally rewarded,” shared Vonn. She added of completing the race, “It was joy. It was a relief. It was satisfaction in the fact that this adventure that I set myself on is worth something.”
Vonn previously took sixth place in the Audi FIS Ski World Cup competition in her first return to the World Cup downhill slopes in St. Anton, Austria, on Saturday, Jan. 11.
