Lindsey Vonn addresses whether she was called grandma like Simone Biles amid skiing comeback at 40

Lindsey Vonn has revealed no one has ever called her 'grandma' on the face for competing as a professional skier at the age of 40. She returned from retirement at the 2024/25 World Cup and wants to give another go at the Olympics in Cortina 2026.

Vonn, who retired in 2019 due to injuries, skied at the 2024 FIS Fall Festival in Copper Mountain to make her comeback on the skiing circuit. She secured her name on the US roster at the World Cup and raced five years after her initial retirement. She posted strong finishes in the Downhill and Super-G races at St. Anton, clinching sixth and fourth place, respectively.

However, her run in Cortina d'Ampezzo was cut short as she suffered two falls back-to-back. Even in the World Championships, she executed an underwhelming performance in Downhill, finishing 15th in Saalbach. Her setbacks in the ongoing season garnered some backlash from fans for her competing at the age 40.

In an interview with Sports Illustrated, it was shared with Vonn that Simone Biles was called a "grandma" by the naysayers ahead of the Paris Olympics.

"Nobody’s said that to me yet. Or at least not to my face," Lindsey Vonn responded.

Praising Biles for her success stories and becoming the oldest US gymnast at the Games since 1952, Vonn said:

"She far exceeded what everyone believed to be the limits of a gymnast’s physical ability to perform..."

Biles won three gold medals in team, all-around, and vault events and a silver on the floor exercise in Paris. She became the most decorated US gymnast, surpassing Shannon Miller for the record.

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Lindsey Vonn opened up about her goal to compete at the 2026 Cortina Winter Olympics

Lindsey Vonn at the Audi FIS Alpine World Ski Championships - Women's Downhill - (Source: Getty)

Lindsey Vonn underwent a partial knee replacement surgery in 2024, and is currently functioning with a titanium knee. Despite that, she expressed her wish to be in the running for a podium at the Cortina Olympics before bidding her final goodbye to alpine skiing.

In an interview (via Olympics.com), she said that the World Championships acted as the gateway for the Games.

"I put pressure on myself as if it was a practice run for the Olympics, and I did exactly what I came here to do. That was the biggest goal for me, to bring myself to the right place mentally, have that clarity and have that precision. So for me, mentally, that gives me a lot of confidence knowing that I can execute when when the pressure is on."

Vonn has won 82 World Cup races, ranking third in the all-time list. She became the first US woman to win a downhill gold at the Olympics in 2010.