In Pictures: Lindsey Vonn shares glimpses of "having the time of her life" while skiing in Austria

Lindsey Vonn took to the alpine skiing slopes of Soelden, a Austria, and issued a cryptic message ahead of the 2024/25 Alpine Skiing World Cup season. The 40-year-old retired from competitive skiing in 2019 but never detached herself from the sporting avenues.

Vonn, the third most successful female skier behind Annemarie Moser-Pröll and Mikaela Shiffrin at the World Cup overall championships, etched her name as the first American woman to win gold in the downhill at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Her 20th World Cup Crystal Globe win in 2016 broke the legendary Ingemar Stenmark's record of 19 globes, achieved between 1975 and 1984.

Having sat out of major competitions in 2013 and 2014, Vonn was selected as NBC's correspondent to cover the 2014 Winter Olympics.

After a series of injuries over the years, the Minnesota-born drew a line to her career in 2019. She had to undergo surgeries even after retirement, the most recent of them being one for knee replacement in April 2024. On October 22, 2024, the three-time Olympic medalist posted a photo carousel of her skiing on the icy slopes of Austria, admitted to having the time of her life, and hinted at something skiing-related 'loading'.

"Loading…… Been putting in the work here in Sölden. Having the time of my life and seeing how things go. Just happy," Vonn's caption read.

In an Instagram post from a week ago, Lindsey Vonn shared a note of gratitude for her new life after knee replacement.

"With this new knee that is now a part of me… I feel like a whole new chapter of my life is unfolding before my eyes. My adventurous spirit feels full of gratitude. To do the things you love to do is truly a blessing and I don’t take it for granted," her caption read.

In January 2023, Lindsey Vonn became the first woman to ski downhill at Strief, a World Cup ski course in Austria.

Lindsey Vonn addressed safety as the biggest issue in alpine skiing

Lindsey Vonn emotional after her race at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games - Source: Getty

Owing to the risky nature of her sport, Vonn's avalanche of injuries ranged from bone breaks to torn ligaments and hairline fractures. In a recent interview with Olympics.com, she addressed the safety issue of alpine skiing and how every event ends at least 4 to 5 athletes' winning dreams in the wake of harrowing injuries.

"What I always tried to do in my career is push the sport forward. And I think safety is obviously a big issue, but it's always been a big issue. This isn't the first time this has happened. We've seen, for example, in Wengen, losing 4 or 5 of the top athletes in a single race. And that’s unfortunately part of the sport," she noted.

She further talked about how technological developments have made skiing easier and expressed her desire to bring more changes to the sport.

"There are new technologies now, like the airbag, and I think there are things we can do to better manage athletes' time and energy levels.”

In the aforementioned interview, Lindsey Vonn expressed admiration for fellow alpine skier Mikaela Shiffrin ahead of the 2024/2025 alpine skiing season, saying that a 100th World Cup win for the latter would be iconic.