Lindsey Vonn faces more criticism for competing at age 40 than Tom Brady, Lewis Hamilton

SAALBACH-HINTERGLEMM, Austria (AP) — When Tom Brady played in the NFL well beyond the age of 40, he wasn't considered crazy for facing 300-pound defensive linemen intent on sacking him.

When Lewis Hamilton recently got behind the wheel of a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time at 40, he wasn't told he's too old for the elite auto racing series.

Marcel Hirscher didn't get nearly as many pointed questions when he recently returned to ski racing after five seasons away.

So why did Lindsey Vonn face so much second guessing in Europe about her comeback at age 40 this season after spending the same time away from the sport as Hirscher?

Before Vonn returned in December, two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister suggested that the American “should see a psychologist,” adding on Austrian TV, “Does she want to kill herself?”

Austrian downhill great Franz Klammer said “she’s gone completely mad” and four-time overall World Cup champion Pirmin Zurbriggen said that Vonn “hasn’t recognized the meaning and purpose of her other life in recent years.”

“I don’t think I really deserved the disrespectful comments to the degree that they were given. I of course expected criticism in that, ‘Is my knee safe?’ That’s a valid question," Vonn said Monday when she arrived at the world championships, referring to her reconstructed right knee that is now partially titanium.

“But there were a lot of questions that had to do with me as a person and my psychological state and what life is outside of skiing. And that was completely inappropriate and disrespectful and I didn’t deserve it,” Vonn added. " And honestly, no one deserved it. But no one asked Marcel those questions. No one asked Marcel if his life is fulfilled outside of ski racing or if he needed to see a psychologist. That was only directed at me. And that’s pretty (messed) up.”

While Hirscher specializes in the less dangerous disciplines of slalom and giant slalom, Vonn races downhill and super-G, where speeds top 80 mph (130 kph).

But plenty of men have raced in downhill past the age of 40. In January 2023, 42-year-old Johan Clarey finished second in the famed Hahnenkamm downhill in Kitzbuehel, Austria — setting the record for the oldest podium finisher.

Vonn showed that she can still be competitive when she finished sixth and fourth in a downhill and a super-G in St. Anton, Austria, last month. She's still rediscovering her speed and has had a few minor falls during her comeback, but she also now has had more time to regain her timing entering worlds at another Austrian resort — in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

As for the response to her return back home in the U.S., Vonn said it was “amazing.”

“Everyone has been really supportive. It’s honestly only in Europe that I’ve had any sort of criticism,” Vonn said.

“A lot of women my age are really, really happy that I’m doing what I’m doing. It means a lot for them," Vonn added. "I think it means something for women, too, that we can still pursue our dreams regardless of our age. We don’t have to be doing a certain thing by a certain time. We can still be ambitious. Just because we’re 40 doesn’t mean it’s over.”

Besides her two individual events of super-G and downhill, Vonn also wants to combine forces with Mikaela Shiffrin the new team combined event next week.

The women's event, which will be held on Feb. 11, entails one squad member competing in downhill and the other in slalom — with their two times added together to determine the final results.

Shiffrin and Vonn are the winningest female racers in World Cup history with 99 victories for Shiffrin and 82 for Vonn. Vonn is the all-time leader in World Cup downhill victories with 43 and Shiffrin holds the mark in slalom with 62 — both records among men and women.

“I think it would be probably one of the coolest things in ski racing to have 181 World Cup victories on one team,” Vonn said. “I don’t see how that wouldn’t be incredible. I don’t know how she is physically, I haven’t talked to her because she just came back. So I don’t know if she’s even competing in the combined. But if there is a chance to compete with her, I would absolutely love to.”

Shiffrin returned to the circuit last week when she placed 10th in a World Cup slalom in Courchevel, France. It was her first race back in two months after crashing and suffering a deep puncture wound on her side.

If Shiffrin isn't ready for the combined, Vonn suggested she could team up with Paula Moltzan. Both Vonn and Moltzan grew up skiing at Buck Hill in Minnesota.

“We’re from the same small town,” Vonn said. “That would be really cool to to race with her. But I would be happy with any of my teammates to compete with.”

The championships open with a team parallel event on Tuesday that neither Vonn nor Shiffrin will compete in.

AP skiing: https://apnews.com/hub/alpine-skiing

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin gets to the finish area after completing a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Mikaela Shiffrin speeds down the course during the first run of a women's World Cup slalom, in Courchevel, France, Thursday Jan. 30, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)

United States' Lindsey Vonn reacts after completing an alpine ski, women's World Cup super G, in Garmisch, Germany, Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Piermarco Tacca)

United States' Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in Garmisch, Germany, Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Maria Pizzato)

FILE - United States' Lindsey Vonn looks on ahead of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill training, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP Photo/Giovanni Maria Pizzato, File)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is meeting with oil executives at the White House on Friday in hopes of securing $100 billion in investments to revive Venezuela’s ability to fully tap into its expansive reserves of petroleum — a plan that rides on their comfort in making commitments in a country plagued by instability, inflation and uncertainty.

Since the U.S. military raid to capture former Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro on Saturday, Trump has quickly pivoted to portraying the move as a newfound economic opportunity for the U.S., seizing tankers carrying Venezuelan oil, saying the U.S. is taking over the sales of 30 million to 50 million barrels of previously sanctioned Venezuelan oil and will be controlling sales worldwide indefinitely.

On Friday, U.S. forces seized their fifth tanker over the past month that has been linked to Venezuelan oil. The action reflected the determination of the U.S. to fully control the exporting, refining and production of Venezuelan petroleum, a sign of the Trump administration's plans for ongoing involvement in the sector as it seeks commitments from private companies.

It's all part of a broader push by Trump to keep gasoline prices low. At a time when many Americans are concerned about affordability, the incursion in Venezuela melds Trump’s assertive use of presidential powers with an optical spectacle meant to convince Americans that he can bring down energy prices.

The meeting, set for 2:30 p.m. EST, will be open to the news media, according to an update to the president's daily schedule. “At least 100 Billion Dollars will be invested by BIG OIL, all of whom I will be meeting with today at The White House,” Trump said Friday in a pre-dawn social media post.

Trump is set to meet with executives from 17 oil companies, according to the White House. Among the companies attending are Chevron, which still operates in Venezuela, and ExxonMobil and ConocoPhillips, which both had oil projects in the country that were lost as part of a 2007 nationalization of private businesses under Maduro’s predecessor, Hugo Chávez.

The president is meeting with a wide swath of domestic and international companies with interests ranging from construction to the commodity markets. Other companies slated to be at the meeting include Halliburton, Valero, Marathon, Shell, Singapore-based Trafigura, Italy-based Eni and Spain-based Repsol.

Large U.S. oil companies have so far largely refrained from affirming investments in Venezuela as contracts and guarantees need to be in place. Trump has suggested on social media that America would help to backstop any investments.

Venezuela’s oil production has slumped below one million barrels a day. Part of Trump's challenge to turn that around will be to convince oil companies that his administration has a stable relationship with Venezuela’s interim President Delcy Rodríguez, as well as protections for companies entering the market.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum are slated to attend the oil executives meeting, according to the White House.

Meanwhile, the United States and Venezuelan governments said Friday they were exploring the possibility of r estoring diplomatic relations between the two countries, and that a delegation from the Trump administration arrived to the South American nation on Friday.

The small team of U.S. diplomats and diplomatic security officials traveled to Venezuela to make a preliminary assessment about the potential re-opening of the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, the State Department said in a statement.

Trump also announced on Friday he’d meet with President Gustavo Petro in early February, but called on the Colombian leader to make quick progress on stemming flow of cocaine into the U.S.

Trump, following the ouster of Maduro, had made vague threats to take similar action against Petro. Trump abruptly changed his tone Wednesday about his Colombian counterpart after a friendly phone call in which he invited Petro to visit the White House.

President Donald Trump waves as he walks off stage after speaking to House Republican lawmakers during their annual policy retreat, Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)