'Emotional' Lindsey Vonn wins World Cup downhill at age 41 to start Winter Olympic campaign

The queen of downhill skiing is well and truly back.

At age 41, Lindsey Vonn is still faster than the rest and became the oldest winner of a World Cup race since the circuit started in 1967.

Vonn raced to a stunningly fast win in a downhill at St. Moritz on Friday to earn her first victory in nearly eight years — and the first in her comeback with titanium implants in her right knee after a five-year retirement.

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The United States ski great seized the lead by an astonishing 1.16 seconds ahead of Mirjam Puchner of Austria. Even wilder was that Vonn trailed by 0.61 after the first two time checks at the Swiss resort.

Vonn's lead was later cut to 0.98 — still a massive margin in downhill — when unheralded Magdalena Egger took second place from teammate Puchner.

“It was an amazing day, I couldn’t be happier, pretty emotional," Vonn told Swiss broadcaster RTS. "I felt good this summer but I wasn’t sure how fast I was. I guess I know now how fast I am.”

Soon after, Vonn shed tears on the podium in the finish area when The Star-Spangled Banner played.

It was a perfect start to her Winter Olympic season to get a first victory since a downhill in March 2018 at Are, Sweden.

Vonn's superb debut working with new coach Aksel Lund Svindal, a men's downhill great who won the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics title, suggests their stellar partnership is paying off.

Her run Friday looked routine when she dropped tenths of seconds to Puchner's time on the top half of the sunbathed Corviglia course, where the finish is at altitude above 2,000 metres.

Vonn then was faster than anyone through the next speed checks, touching 119 kph, and posted the fastest time splits for the bottom half.

She skied through the finish area and bumped against the inflated safety barrier, lay down in the snow and raised her arms on seeing her time.

The 2010 Olympic champion is targeting another gold medal at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February. Women's Alpine skiing is at the storied Cortina d'Ampezzo course in the Dolomites, which Vonn has mastered in her career with 12 World Cup race wins.

“Obviously my goal is Cortina but if this is the way we start I think I'm in a good spot,” said Vonn.

Vonn has shredded age records since her return to World Cup racing at St. Moritz one year ago.

She's now the oldest winner of a men's or women's race, taking the mark set by 37-year-old Didier Cuche, also in Switzerland, in 2012 when he triumphed in a super-G at Crans-Montana.

Until Friday, the women's record was 34 years, 7 months set by Federica Brignone in March after victory in a super-G at Kvitfjell, Norway.

No woman aged at least 35 ever was on a World Cup race podium until March when Vonn placed second in a super-G at Sun Valley.

No women aged at least 36 ever had a points-scoring result in downhill until Vonn last season. No women aged at least 37 ever had a points-scoring result in any World Cup event until Vonn, according to the ski-db.com archive.

Vonn, who turns 42 in October, has pledged to retire at the end of the season in March, so might not catch the men's age record for a podium finish — Johan Clarey was 42 years, 13 days when runner-up in the feared Kitzbühel downhill in January 2023. At 41, he also took silver in downhill at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.