In 2019, American skier Lindsey Vonn appeared to say goodbye to the sport, retiring after 82 World Cup wins over 17 seasons.
However, it turned out Vonn's goodbye was merely a "see you later." Pain-free after a 2023 knee replacement, she announced her imminent return to World Cup competition on Nov. 14.
On Saturday, Vonn ran her first World Cup race in five years—finishing a respectable 14th in super-G in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
Austria's Cornelia Hunter won the race, 1.18 seconds ahead of the American icon.
"Today is just the first step and I’m not looking for more. Today I really needed to get to the finish. I wanted to have a solid result. And that’s exactly what I did," Vonn said per Andrew Dampf of the AP.
Vonn, 40, ranks third all-time in Alpine world cup wins regardless of gender—behind countrywoman Mikaela Shiffrin's 99 and Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark's 86.