Lindsey Vonn finished 14th in a super-G on Saturday to mark her return to the World Ski Championships at the age of 40.
Vonn crossed the line 1.18 seconds behind winner Cornelia Huetter.
It was the American star’s first World Cup race after almost six years of retirement.
Vonn plans to race another super-G in St. Moritz on Sunday.
Vonn had to pause her career in 2019 due to a series of crashes and injuries, but in April she underwent knee replacement surgery 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 victories – the record for a woman at the time and within reach of Swedish standout Ingemar Stenmark’s then Alpine mark of 86. Vonn’s women’s record was eclipsed in January 2023 by American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, who now has an outright record of 99 wins.
Shiffrin, who shares the record of five victories at St. Moritz with Vonn, will not race this weekend as she recovers from abdominal surgery to clean up a puncture wound she suffered in a crash last month.
Vonn took advantage of a new wildcard rule that allows former champions to enter races without the necessary points.
Eight-time World Cup champion Marcel Hirscher also took advantage of the wildcard rule and returned this season after a five-year absence. But then Hirscher tore his left ACL while training for the giant slalom and announced earlier this month that his comeback season was over.
Vonn is trying to enter uncharted territory when it comes to later-life success in women’s skiing.
The oldest woman to win a World Cup race was Federica Brignone, the Italian who won the giant slalom in Sölden, Austria, in October at the age of 34 to start this season.
The oldest man to win a race was Didier Cuche at the age of 37 in a super-G in Crans Montana, Switzerland, in 2012.
Johan Clarey set the record for the oldest podium finish with a second place in the famous Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbühel, Austria, at the age of 42 in January 2023.