Did Lindsey Vonn Just Qualify for the Olympics with Her World Cup Win?

With her World Cup win, Vonn announced she's officially back. But does that guarantee her an Olympic spot with Team USA?

Vonn won a World Cup. Are the Olympics in her future? (Photo: Alexis Boichard/Agence Zoom/Getty Images)

I’m not crying, you’re crying.

OK, we’re all a little misty-eyed after watching American skiing legend Outside magazine cover girl Lindsey Vonn once again jot her name down in ski racing’s history books.

On Friday, December 12, Vonn, who is 41, won the FIS Downhill World Cup race in St. Moritz, Switzerland. In doing so, Vonn became the oldest skier, man or woman, to ever win a downhill World Cup. The win marked Vonn’s first since she came out of retirement in late 2024, and her first World Cup victory since 2018.

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

Winning a big race is a sign that Vonn’s body is ready to rocket down ski slopes again, now that her infamously injured knee has undergone a partial replacement.

The victory is significant for an altogether different reason: it represents a huge step toward Vonn qualifying for the 2026 Olympics in Cortina, Italy. No, it doesn’t totally guarantee her a spot on Team USA. But within the small community of top American women’s downhillers, Vonn is now the frontrunner to grab an Olympic berth.

I know, I know—most of us assumed that Vonn would be headed to the Winter Games when she announced her comeback last December. But saying you want to go to the Olympics and actually qualifying for the team are two entirely different challenges.

You see, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team has a plethora of talented alpine ski racers in its ranks—think Breezy Johnson, Lauren Macuga, Keely Cashman, and others. All of them are gunning for a spot at the Games.

As such, the national federation—like all Olympic national governing bodies—has published qualification criteria. Think of these as the benchmarks that skiers must hit if they want a spot on the team.

Now, I’ve read a lot of sports qualification documents over the years. Most are long and arcane reports written by lawyers, and are only slightly more entertaining to read than your average instruction manual for a VCR or induction stovetop. U.S. Ski and Snowboard’s document is actually pretty good! If you’re having a tough time falling asleep tonight, give it a whirl.

Here are some of the highlights:

Team USA still does not know just how many skiers it will take to Cortina—the final count will be determined by the country’s ranking on the FIS leaderboards in early January. But assuming all goes according to plan, the United States should be able to bring 11 men and 11 women. To pick those 11 women’s spots, U.S. Ski and Snowboard will judge athletes based on their individual results at the FIS World Cup and FIS European Cup Alpine races held between October 25, 2025, and January 18, 2026. World Cup results are the most important races for qualification. Here’s the section of the document (6.2.1 Objective Criteria) that really hammers home the importance of Vonn’s big win: Up to three athletes per gender in each individual discipline (think Slalom, Downhill, Super-G, Giant Slalom) can earn an automatic nomination to the team based entirely on their World Cup results. The criteria that will get them this nomination? One or more top-three results in a World Cup.

Well, Vonn just won a World Cup, so she has officially met the criteria.

Of course, other American skiers in the downhill could still tie Vonn by winning a World Cup, or even surpass her by winning two.

If a tie does happen, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard officials will then scrutinize each athlete’s second-best World Cup result and choose whomever has the better one.

This is all a very long-winded way of saying that you and me and all of our friends are going to become hardcore World Cup ski fans over the next month, as we wait on pins and needles to see if Vonn does indeed grab one of the spots for Cortina. There are still four World Cup downhill races to go before the January 18 cutoff date that U.S. Ski and Snowboard has set.

They are:

December 13, St. Moritz, Switzerland December 20, Val d’Isere, France January 10 Zauchensee, Switzerland January 17, Tarvisio, Italy

Buckle up, it’s going to be a wild ride.

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