'Life is short': Vonn makes comeback in St Moritz
Fans and sceptics alike will be watching closely as Vonn, arguably the greatest speed racer in the sport's history, hits the slopes for the first of two super-G events this weekend at the Swiss resort.
"'Why are you doing this?' It's a question I've been asked a lot lately. So I will tell you why..." Vonn, a winner of 82 World Cup races, wrote this week on her Instagram account.
"My life has taken me on a crazy roller coaster of ups and downs but despite everything I've been through, my 'why' has always been, and always will be, my love for skiing."
On Saturday, 20 years after her first World Cup win, Vonn will take to the start gate with Sofia Goggia, Lara Gut-Behrami and Cornelia Huetter, heavyweights in a discipline the American once dominated.
"I feel stronger now than I did in my mid, late 20s, and I feel like the passion for skiing has never gone away," Vonn said last week in Beaver Creek, where she served as a forerunner for the downhill and super-G races.
"So now that I have the chance to physically do what I love. Why? Why would I not try? Life is short. You gotta live every day as to the maximum, and that's all I'm doing."
Titanium knee
Vonn left the sport in 2019 after a series of major injuries but she has been free of pain since a right knee replacement in April, when part of the bone was cut off and replaced by two titanium pieces.
She was the most decorated women's skier with 82 World Cup victories when she retired. Her mark has since been eclipsed by fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin's 99.
Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion, also won 20 World Cup titles, including four overall crystal globes, eight world championship medals and secured 137 World Cup podiums.
As the months went by, there were whispers in the skiing world that Vonn was back in training and perhaps targeting a comeback. Her return followed that of another legend in the form of Marcel Hirscher.
The Austrian, now competing for the Netherlands, however seriously injured his knee in early December and ended his season -- and his second career -- after only three races.
While Hirscher's return was generally welcomed, Vonn's decision to come out of retirement was not universally celebrated, with some former skiers suggesting she was putting herself at serious risk.
"I'm getting pretty tired of people predicting negative things about my future," Vonn responded on social media. "Did they all become doctors and I missed it, because they talk like they know more than the best doctors in the world."
Italy's Federica Brignone, 34, is the oldest woman to win a World Cup race, triumphing in the season-opening giant slalom in Soelden in October.
Nothing to prove
Vonn said that while she plans to take her comeback day-by-day, she also signalled that her overriding goal is to compete at the highest level once more.
"I don't need the spotlight or attention," she said. "I don't need to prove anything to anyone."
Vonn took part in two super-Gs in a lower-level competition at Copper Mountain in the United States earlier this month and finished 19th and 24th, just over two seconds behind the winner each time.
"You know me well enough to know that success is not just participating," she said.
"I know my way back to a competitive level might take a race or two, but I certainly intend on getting back to where I was before."
The next Winter Olympics take place in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo in 2026.
"Ultimately, if I can make it to Cortina, that would be my goal."