Lindsey Vonn is ready to make her return to World Cup skiing at age 40

ST. MORITZ, Switzerland (AP) — Lindsey Vonn is ready to make her return to World Cup skiing at age 40 in a super-G on Saturday in St. Moritz.

The American standout inspected the Corviglia course before the race and will start No. 31.

It’s Vonn’s first World Cup race after nearly six years of retirement.

Vonn had to cut her career short in 2019 due to a series of crashes and injuries, but then she had knee replacement surgery in April and had two titanium pieces inserted into her right knee. Her knee feels better than it has in years, so she decided to come back.

Vonn left the tour with 82 World Cup wins — the record for a woman at the time and within reach of the then all-time Alpine mark of 86 held by Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark. The women’s record held by Vonn was eclipsed in January 2023 by American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has an outright record 99 wins.

Shiffrin, who shares the record of five wins in St. Moritz with Vonn, isn’t racing this weekend as she recovers from abdominal surgery to clean out a puncture wound she sustained in a crash last month.

Vonn is planning to race another super-G in St. Moritz on Sunday.