Industry News
U.S. ski racer Lindsey will feature on the cover of the November 24, 2025, issue of the famous Time magazine.Time is the world’s longest-running weekly news magazine and interviewed the iconic athlete in a dedicated feature piece. Time’s senior sports correspondent Sean Gregory conducted the interview with the 41-year-old skier and shares her struggles, dreams, and ambitions with readers—but above all, her quest for Olympic glory. Accompanying the piece are stunning pictures by Australian portrait and sports photographer Chris Gurney.
Vonn announced her comeback to competitive skiing last November after five years of retirement from the World Cup. Vonn had retired in 2019 following a slew of knee injuries that left her in constant pain. Following a successful knee replacement surgery, Vonn was finally pain-free. Following the introduction of a wildcard system by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) in July 2024, Vonn started to form concrete comeback plans at age 40–a move that faced lots of criticism. Yet her successful comeback to the World Cup circuit, which saw the skier finish consistently in the top 15, converted the naysayers and paved the way for an even bigger goal for Vonn: an Olympic medal at age 41.
“No ski racer, male or female, has ever returned to the top level with titanium implanted onto the sport’s central piece of hardware. With another Olympic medal, she’d shatter the previous record for the oldest female alpine Olympic medalist: 33, Lindsey Vonn, in PyeongChang. Advances in sports science have allowed a host of high-profile male athletes to extend their greatness into middle age…Female examples, Vonn notes, are harder to find.”
— Sean Gregory, Time
In the interview with Gregory, Vonn dives into the difficult times following her retirement—both physical as well as mental. “I felt a pretty big hole,” she shares in the interview and describes how she struggled to find her purpose again. Physically, Vonn was still struggling with her knee injury, but suddenly lacked the round-the-clock team that surrounds a competitive athlete, “I didn’t really factor in the unfortunate part of not having a full-time physio. Like ‘sh-t, everything hurts. Who’s here to fix me?’”
Vonn has done what many thought impossible, stage a successful return to the World Cup circuit—not only at age 40 but with an artificial knee joint and has now set her eyes on Olympic glory—a “bionic quest” as Gregory puts it that will “test the boundaries of human capabilities.” The sports writer points out that an Olympic medal at age 41 would break the women’s age record in women’s Alpine skiing. In men’s Alpine skiing, France’s Johan Clarey achieved that feat in 2022, when he won Olympic Silver in Beijing in Downhill, just one-tenth of a second behind Switzerland’s Beat Feuz, at age 41.
“I don’t know how satisfied I would be if I walked away with no medal…But I don’t think that’s going to happen…I’ve already done more than anyone ever expected…I’ve already done the impossible.”
— Lindsey Vonn in Time interview with Sean Gregory
Becoming the oldest female Olympic medalist in Alpine skiing would be the cherry on top for Vonn, but she knows she has rewritten history with her comeback. “I don’t think it necessarily always comes down to how many wins you have…I think it’s also the impact you have on sports and culture,” Vonn shares with Gregory. “I do think I’ve changed the way people view certain things in skiing and in sports and in culture. My goal is not to just be a ski racer. I’m not a robot. I’m not just there to win. I’m there to enjoy the mountain and to be myself. I wouldn’t do it otherwise.”
Aside from her professional ambitions, the interview also goes into personal territory, from failed relationships to motherhood dreams. Vonn decided to freeze her eggs, a decision she says gave her “peace of mind.” For now, the athlete is focused on her Olympic dream instead of babies, “but that’s definitely something that I’m really looking forward to,” she admits
The November 24, 2025, issue of Time goes on sale on Friday, November 14.
