A LEGEND RETURNS

INSIDE LINDSEY VONN'S UNPRECEDENTED ATTEMPT AT AN OLYMPIC COMEBACK

- BY SEAN GREGORY/ BEVERLY HILLS, CALIF., AND PARK CITY, UTAH

LINDSEY VONN LIFTS HER MIDDLE FINGER IN the Southern California sun. Vonn, the Olympic gold-medal skier, all-time leader in World Cup downhill wins, and rare figure in her sport whose talent, charisma, and celebrity have transcended the snow-covered slopes, is hiking a canyon near her Beverly Hills home. Not so long ago, this might have seemed unfathomable, as she struggled with not just standard wear and tear that comes from decades of competing at a professional level but also swelling and pain caused by numerous crashes while flying down mountains. Since her partial knee-replacement surgery in the spring of 2024, however, Vonn, 41, has felt like a new person.

The gesture, though, is not just one of defiance as she walks briskly on the somewhat hilly terrain. It’s a message to her detractors.

When Vonn launched a surprise comeback last year, after having been retired from the tour for five seasons, many fans cheered her return. But critics made themselves heard as well. They suggested her decision—and goal of earning a spot atop the podium in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, at the 2026 Olympics—revealed an unfulfilling life and wondered why she’d even try such a thing at her age.

Vonn was undeterred. Besides the faith she had in her newly restored knee and her unflagging work ethic, she had planted a little pep talk for herself years earlier. Before her last Olympics, in 2018 in PyeongChang, she got a tattoo on the middle finger of her right hand of the word believe in Greek, the language of the birthplace of the Olympic Games. And so as she directs the digit at her doubters, with an impish grin, she displays the word in all its glory. Then, for good measure, she does it again.