Former Olympic champion alpine skier Lindsey Vonn couldn’t hold her excitement as her teammate, Jacqueline Wiles, joined her on the podium. The 41-year-old skier secured her first FIS World Cup victory of 2026 at Zauchensee, Austria. Vonn overcame the challenge from Norwegian skier Kajsa Vickhoff Lie, who finished second in the downhill race. Wiles clinched the bronze medal in the same event.
Lindsey Vonn Jumps In Excitement Over Wiles’ Finishing Third
The Instagram page of the US Ski Team recently posted a photo of Vonn and Wiles celebrating on the podium. The post was captioned as:
“@lindseyvonn and @jacquelinewiles on the podium together? A tale as old as time⭐️
Congrats legends👑”
READ MORE: Lindsey Vonn Explains the Irony of Skiing As She Gears Up for the Zauchensee World Cup Race
Vonn shared the story on her Instagram handle with the following caption,
“On the podium Again!”
At the same time, the Instagram page of FIS Alpine shared a reel, where Wiles was on the way to the third position. Vonn, who had finished the race at the top, jumped in joy at the American skier joining her at the podium.
Vonn’s 2025–26 Campaign Rewrites the Record Books
Vonn secured her second overall FIS World Cup victory in the downhill category at the event held recently in Austria. She already secured five podium finishes in 2025, including the win at St. Moritz before the end of the year.
With that victory, the 41-year-old skier became the oldest female skier to secure an FIS World Cup event gold medal. She had previously secured the distinction of being the oldest female skier to secure a podium finish with her second-place finish at the World Cup event held in Sun Valley, Idaho. Unlike the St. Moritz event, Vonn won a silver medal in the Super G category.
Vonn was the undisputed FIS World Cup champion from 2008 to 2010. She also won individual titles in different categories from 2008 to 2016. Vonn last won an FIS World Cup overall title in 2012.
The alpine skier qualified for her fifth Winter Olympics by virtue of her performance in 2025. Vonn had made her Olympic debut at the age of 17 in the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics. She struggled for a while before winning her first two Olympic medals at the 2010 edition, where she secured a gold medal in the downhill event and a bronze medal in the Super G event, respectively.
Vonn won a bronze medal in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics in the women’s downhill category before retiring from the sport in 2019, only to return to the sport in late 2024 following a knee surgery.