With her comeback season almost finished, Lindsey Vonn already turning attention to 2026 Olympics

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (AP) — Some nights, Lindsey Vonn drifts off to sleep by visualizing the downhill course at the upcoming Olympics in Italy.

That’s been the American ski racer's drive, her reason behind this comeback at 40 and after a partial knee replacement. Everything she’s done this season — the races, the testing of her skis and boots, the physio — is designed with the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics in mind. After that, medal or no medal, she will retire again.

Although, there’s a provision in her plans — if she’s in contention for a downhill or super-G season-long title, Vonn will remain on the circuit.

“This season is literally just a test run and a trial run to see what I can do,” Vonn said in an interview with The Associated Press leading into the World Cup finals, where on Friday she turned in the 12th-fastest time during a downhill training session on the new course at Sun Valley. “Just try to get the kinks worked out so that next year will be hopefully more like it used to be and more of a routine.”

When Vonn came out of retirement after nearly six years away from World Cup racing, Cortina was firmly on her mind. It's a venue where she's always found speed and success, as evidenced by her six World Cup downhill wins and six more in the super-G.

“These Olympics, it’s all I really wanted to do,” said Vonn, who has 82 career World Cup wins to go with three Olympic medals, including downhill gold from the 2010 Vancouver Games. “Cortina is one of my favorite places, so that’s the carrot that was dangling in front of me.

"As soon as that’s gone, then I can go back to skiing some powder and playing tennis and living the life that I’ve been living for the last six years.”

Before receiving her titanium knee a year ago in April, an ice pack was her constant companion. She carried it everywhere to sooth the ever-aching pain.

Not once has she used ice on her knee this season.

“Even when I crash, it doesn’t hurt. Well, not that knee anyway,” cracked Vonn, who took a recent timeout from training to attend Paris Fashion Week. "It’s surreal to really think about where I was before my surgery and where I am now. I was living a completely different life, and I was just trying to get rid of my pain. And now I’m back trying to make it to the Olympics next year.

"I’m physically in such a better place. I feel so good and it makes me a lot happier. My life is just really good right now.”

She has two races left in her comeback season — a downhill Saturday and then a super-G on Sunday. She's relishing the chance to compete in Sun Valley, given it's the closest she will get to racing on home snow. Vonn didn’t have enough points to be in the field at the World Cup races in Beaver Creek, Colorado, last December.

Instead, she served as a forerunner that weekend to test out the course.

“I was ready. I think I would have had a pretty good result," Vonn said of Beaver Creek. "This weekend, hopefully I can ski my best. It would mean a lot to me. It’d be a great way to end the season and to give me confidence going into next year.”

In years past, the end of a season usually meant some extended down time to heal — or surgery.

This season, she's taking just two weeks off and then heading over to Europe to conduct more testing of her Head ski equipment. She keeps a detailed notebook and spreadsheet of how different boots feel, and how different skis perform in various snow conditions.

Given Vonn didn’t have much of a prep period heading into this season, U.S. women's speed coach Alex Hoedlmoser was impressed by the progress she made.

“She’s very, very fast again,” Hoedlmoser said. “She’s definitely going to step up again next year.”

Vonn doesn’t feel that far off from notching a win, either. Her best finish this season was fourth in a super-G on Jan. 12 in St. Anton, Austria. It was a race won by teammate Lauren Macuga.

“I don’t need to win to feel complete with my life, but I think it would mean a lot to me,” Vonn said. “I love ski racing and I love going fast. It is a passion and I love the adrenaline. I love everything about it, but it is not the sole thing in my life.”

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

United States' Lindsey Vonn skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/John Locher)

United States' Lindsey Vonn skis during a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/John Locher)

United States' Lindsey Vonn reacts after a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/John Locher)

United States' Lindsey Vonn reacts after a women's downhill training run at the World Cup Finals, Friday, March 21, 2025, in Sun Valley, Idaho. (AP Photo/John Locher)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)