Lindsey Vonn has been surprisingly named to the U.S. Ski Team’s A squad for the upcoming season, despite still recovering from the serious injuries she suffered in her Olympic downhill crash earlier this year.
The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association selected the 41-year-old among 17 athletes for its A squad, with the announcement made on Instagram. The new World Cup season is scheduled to begin in late October in Sölden, Austria.
However, Vonn’s inclusion does not necessarily mean she is preparing for an immediate return to competition. The skiing legend remains in rehabilitation following her devastating crash during the Olympic downhill event in Cortina d’Ampezzo in February.
Vonn previously indicated that she did not expect to return to competitive skiing before the 2027–28 season. She is also scheduled to undergo another operation in November, when doctors are expected to remove metal hardware from her injured leg and repair her cruciate ligament.
“Once my cruciate ligament is repaired, it will take another six months,” Vonn said previously.
That recovery timeline would effectively rule her out of next year’s World Championships in Switzerland, making a return to racing during the upcoming season highly unlikely.
Vonn Has World Cup Wild Card
Despite her lengthy rehabilitation, Vonn has already been given an additional incentive to return to the World Cup.
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) recently confirmed that the 84-time World Cup winner will receive a personal wild card if she decides to make a comeback.
Vonn suffered a complex fracture of her left tibia in a violent crash during the Olympic downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The injury required multiple surgeries, with Vonn later revealing that emergency treatment was crucial to preventing the possibility of having her leg amputated.
Her latest inclusion in the U.S. Ski Team therefore appears to provide an opportunity rather than a confirmation of an imminent return. For now, Vonn’s priority remains completing her rehabilitation and recovering fully from one of the most serious injuries of her career.
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