Lindsey Vonn’s return to World Cup ski racing was one of the most closely watched comebacks in recent alpine history. After six years of retirement, the then 40-year old returned to ski racing following a knee replacement surgery in the 2024-25 season. Her 2025-26 season was remarkable, seeing the 41-year-old athlete win her first World Cup after her six-year retirement in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and continued with more podiums and victories until the devastating crash at Cortina d’Ampezzo during the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games. Before her Olympic campaign ended in a severe compound fracture, Vonn quietly achieved a milestone that had stood untouched for years in women’s ski racing: she claimed the all-time World Cup starts record.
Across her 2025-26 season, Vonn reached 416 career World Cup appearances, surpassing Austria’s Renate Götschl and becoming the most experienced female athlete in World Cup alpine skiing history. Götschl had held the record with 409 starts for 17 years. Yet somehow this remarkable milestone went almost unnoticed.
This latest milestone is also not the first time Lindsey Vonn has erased Renate Götschl from the record books. Over the course of her career, Vonn steadily dismantled several of the Austrian’s long-standing benchmarks. The Austrian held the record for the most victories at a single World Cup venue with 10 victories at Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, until Vonn snatched that title with 18 wins at Lake Louise, Canada — a resort so thoroughly dominated that it was nicknamed ‘Lake Lindsey’ and the course officially renamed ‘Lake Lindsey Way’ in her honor.
Furthermore, Götschl held the record for the most super-G World Cup victories as well as most podiums with 17 and 41 to her name respectively, until Vonn claimed her 18th victory in March 2012 and her 42nd super-G podium in February 2016, shooting past the Austrian. Vonn now sits at 28 super-G victories and 49 super-G podiums after the 2025-26 season, extending her record, which she still defends. Switzerland’s Lara Gut-Behrami is close on her heels with 24 super-G victories.
Last but not least, the Austrian held the record for most top 10 rankings with 198 to her name until Vonn shot past her in January 2017. Vonn now has a staggering 225 top 10 rankings — but she, in turn, has been overtaken by Mikaela Shiffrin who has 245 top 10 finishes thus far.
Despite these records, Vonn has been struggling with the devastating end to her comeback dream, sharing with NBC’s TODAY show host Craig Melvin, in his podcast: “I don’t want 13 seconds to define my career — because it’s so much more than that.”
But to be fair, it would be rather ignorant to narrow down Vonn’s career to that one moment at the 2026 Olympics. Her career has been defined by so many other stand-out moments and at the end of the 2025-26 season, she can still add another historic milestone to her tally: the record for most World Cup races attended.
To understand the scale of the new record she now holds, here is the full top-10 list of women’s World Cup appearances, as compiled from FIS data.
All-Time Women’s World Cup Starts (Top 10)
10. Maria Höfl-Riesch (Germany) — 356 starts
Höfl-Riesch competed in the World Cup from 2001 to 2014, winning 3 Olympic gold medals and 2 overall World Cup titles. She recorded 27 World Cup victories across downhill, super-G, and combined disciplines.
9. Federica Brignone (Italy) — 363 starts
Still active on tour, Brignone has become Italy’s most successful modern female skier, with multiple World Cup discipline titles and over 25 World Cup victories, primarily in giant slalom and combined events. After a long break following a compound leg fracture in 2025, Brignone came back to win two gold medals at the Milan-Cortina Olympics. The Italian admits to still being in a lot of pain but will hopefully be racing again in the upcoming World Cup season.
8. Elisabeth Görgl (Austria) — 378 starts
A two-time Olympic medalist, Görgl raced in the World Cup from the early 2000s through 2017, collecting 7 World Cup wins across speed disciplines.
7. Anja Pärson (Sweden) — 381 starts
One of the most versatile racers of her generation, Pärson won 42 World Cup races and multiple overall and discipline titles before retiring in 2012 after a decorated Olympic career.
6. Lara Gut-Behrami (Switzerland) — 395 starts
Still active, Gut-Behrami has been one of the defining technical and speed skiers of the last decade, with over 45 World Cup wins and an Olympic super-G gold medal in 2022. She has claimed two overall World Cup season titles, in 2016 and in 2024.
5. Julia Mancuso (USA) — 399 starts
A four-time Olympic medalist, Mancuso was one of the most consistent American speed racers of the 2000s and 2010s, with 7 World Cup wins before retiring in 2018.
4. Tina Maze (Slovenia) — 401 starts
Maze remains one of the most dominant all-rounders in ski racing history, with 26 World Cup victories and the record-breaking 2013 season where she scored 2,414 World Cup points.
3. Martina Ertl-Renz (Germany) — 407 starts
Ertl-Renz raced from the early 1990s to 2006, winning 14 World Cup races and becoming one of Germany’s most consistent giant slalom and combined competitors.
2. Renate Götschl (Austria) — 409 starts
A pure speed specialist, Götschl won 46 World Cup races and multiple discipline titles across downhill and super-G before retiring in 2009.
1. Lindsey Vonn (USA) — 416 starts
Vonn’s comeback season added the final appearances needed to move her past Götschl and into first place. Across her career she has amassed 84 World Cup wins — second only to Mikaela Shiffrin in women’s ski racing history — and remains one of the most influential figures the sport has ever seen.
A Record, a Crash, and a Legacy Still Being Written
Vonn’s 416-start milestone is just one of many highlights in a barrier- and record-breaking career. Vonn has rewritten the book so many times, it is hard to keep track.
Whether her 416 starts ultimately stand as a final benchmark or a number she one day revisits, her comeback season has already reshaped how longevity is measured in modern alpine skiing. Mikaela Shiffrin currently sits at 304 race starts, so would still have to compete in another 112 events to tie with her teammate. To put that in perspective, that would most likely take Shiffrin another five years. Given that the American ski racer has admitted that she had no intention of racing until she is 40, Vonn’s record might just hold.
Either way, for Vonn, the message remains: her legacy is not those 13 seconds. Those were just a blip in an otherwise legendary career.
