After retiring five years ago due to injuries, Lindsey Vonn announced her return to the U.S. Ski Team following her right knee replacement surgery.
Vonn’s career was full of accomplishments, including her three Winter Olympic medals and 82 World Cup races. Five years ago, when Vonn retired, she had no plans of returning to the sport after sustaining multiple injuries such as broken bones, concussions, and torn knee ligaments caused by high-speed crashes. But, in April of 2024, Vonn had right knee replacement surgery to help fix damage in her knee. Following that surgery, she found that she had regained the strength that she had lost, and she began to ski again pain-free.
“I had been able to get stronger by then and could really start pushing my knee, and all that went really well. I was doing 15 runs. I haven’t done 15 runs in one day since my mid-20s,” Vonn said in the New York Times.
Now, five years after retiring from the sport, Vonn has announced her return to the U.S. Ski Team at 40 years old. She is excited about her return and hopes to compete in the World Cup circuit this winter, and maybe even the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“I’m not going to put myself in a position to fail. My goal is to enjoy this, and hopefully that road takes me to World Cup races. I wouldn’t be back on the U.S. ski team if I didn’t have intentions,” Vonn said in the New York Times.
Besides skiing, many athletes wonder if they should continue playing their sport as they age. Zara Wiley, a sophomore at NVD, shared how she thinks the performance of athletes degrades as they get older.
“I think that athletes that perform at older ages don’t perform as well [as they did] in their prime just because your body gets weaker, you get older, you kind of lose reaction time. And I’m not saying that all athletes are like that, [because] there’s some really great [older athletes] out there, but regardless of that they’re never going to be as good as [they were] in their prime,” Wiley said.
While athletes’ performance can worsen over time, Wiley agrees that they should not stop playing forever just because they’re no longer as good as they once were. However, playing at the professional level may not be a possibility for athletes as they get older.
“I think athletes can still play when they’re older because they love the sport and that’s what they want to play for the rest of their life…[but] I feel like going to recreational leagues or teaching others their skills [would be better]. I feel like you should leave while you’re high and mighty instead of leaving when you’re old and not the best,” Wiley said.
As athletes age and their skill level declines, there are younger athletes with more prospects who can step in to replace the older athletes. With younger athletes on the rise, Wiley believes that older athletes should take a step back from the professional level to allow these younger athletes to have the opportunity to succeed.
“[Instead of] playing in the major leagues, maybe they should take a step back and let the younger generation take over. It’s because there’s always going to be new people, and people are always going to get better and better and no one’s ever going to be the best of something forever,” Wiley said.
Opposing Wiley’s views, some people believe that older athletes should keep playing their sport until they have done everything that they can for the sport. Vonn’s friend and tennis player Roger Federer, who retired at 41, told Vonn that he stayed in the game for as long as he could, which in turn inspired Vonn to make her comeback at 40.
“He said: ‘I squeezed every drop out of the lemon that I had. There was nothing left for me to give.’ And I felt like I had done that in my career. I pushed myself as hard as I could. But I feel like I have more juice in my lemon now,” Vonn said in the New York Times.
Although some may question whether Vonn can still perform at the level she once did, as 40 is considered an old age for athletes, Vonn has put critics to rest through her recent interviews. She has claimed that her return to her sport has nothing to do with wanting more recognition, but simply because she truly loves to ski.
“I’m not chasing anything; I’m not trying to prove anything to anyone. With what I’ve done in my career, I’m thankful I can be in this position. I don’t have any pressure. It’s just me and the mountain like it was in the beginning,” Vonn said in the New York Times.
