They said she “should see a psychologist,” had “gone completely mad” and hadn’t “recognized the meaning and purpose of her other life” away from skiing.
Well, Lindsey Vonn’s return to downhill racing on her titanium knee doesn’t seem so crazy now.
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United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Friday Dec.12, 2025. (AP Photo/Luciano Bisi)
United States' Lindsey Vonn listens to Aksel Lund Svindal ahead of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Friday Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
United States' Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup super-G event, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Sunday Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Lindsey Vonn of the United States reacts after completing an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday Dec. 13, 2025 (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
United States' Lindsey Vonn gets emotional as she celebrates winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Friday Dec. 12, 2025. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)
Not after she dominated the opening speed weekend of the Olympic season, won the first downhill by a huge margin and gained more points than any other skier over three days of World Cup racing.
At age 41.
“All the people that didn’t believe in me, I have to thank them because it really gives me a lot of motivation,” Vonn said.
“I’m surprised that people haven’t figured that out by now. That every time you talk bad about me it just makes me stronger and better and more motivated. So I would love for people to keep coming at me. It would be great. Motivate me even more.”
A year ago, when Vonn was preparing to race again after nearly six years of retirement, two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister suggested 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 added that Vonn “hasn’t recognized the meaning and purpose of her other life in recent years.”
After all, the risks are high in a sport where skiers hurl themselves down icy mountains at speeds of 130 kph (80 mph) with little protection besides a helmet, a back protector and a safety air bag system under their suits.
But Vonn looked more composed and stable than skiers half her age on the Corviglia course in St. Moritz, Switzerland.
When Vonn won Friday’s downhill by 0.98 seconds — an eternity in a sport often decided by mere hundredths — she was emboldened enough to shape her hands in a sleeping gesture in the style of NBA star Stephen Curry’s “Night, night” gesture.
In other words, she felt she had just put the rest of the field to rest when she became the oldest winner in World Cup history — among men and women.
The performance and gesture got some attention in the NBA.
“40+ is the new 20. Well, until you wake up the next day!” 40-year-old Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James said on Instagram.
Fellow downhiller Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic champion, said on Friday that Vonn “took us all to school and left us with a pacifier (baby's dummy) in our mouths.”
The next day, Goggia backed up her comments and put a pacifier in her mouth while standing next to Vonn.
Vonn also finished second in another downhill on Saturday despite a big mistake midway down, then placed fourth in a super-G on Sunday. In all, she earned a weekend-best 230 World Cup points — 60 more than Goggia and 85 more than Emma Aicher, the 22-year-old German who won Saturday’s race..
She “raised the bar for every athlete in downhill and super-G,” Goggia said.
Vonn’s performance has her reconsidering her plans.
Instead of going back into retirement immediately after the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February, she’ll likely ski on through the end of the World Cup season in March.
“I think I might need to change my approach,” she said.
Vonn’s head coach Chris Knight said: “We can start planning for the whole season.”
Having figured out her equipment and with improved fitness from last season — she added 12 pounds (5.5 kilograms) of muscle to her frame — Knight believes Vonn can perform at this level every weekend.
“It’s just about managing the load, the training and the recovery time,” Knight told The Associated Press. “It’s almost recovery is more important right now because she’s in a really good place with the skiing.”
Women’s Alpine skiing at the Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds the record with 12 World Cup wins.
Besides downhill and super-G on her Olympic program, Vonn also plans to enter the new team combined — which features two-person teams with one competitor racing a downhill run and another performing a slalom run.
Vonn campaigned to pair with slalom standout Mikaela Shiffrin at last year’s world championships but her performances then didn’t merit that chance. Shiffrin won gold with Breezy Johnson instead.
But the way this season has started for Vonn — and with Shiffrin having won all three slaloms — could result in a skiing “Dream Team” in Cortina.
“If they do it like they did last year at the world champs, you take the fastest downhiller and the fastest slalom skier and move down from there,” Knight said.
Vonn also has former Olympic downhill champion Aksel Lund Svindal on her coaching staff this season — and it was the Norwegian offering the final words of advice before she raced over the weekend.
“He’s been at the start a million times and his calm energy is really helpful to me because sometimes I’m really intense,” Vonn said. “He’s just always so stable and that gives me peace of mind.”
Andrew Dampf is at https://x.com/AndrewDampf
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
United States' Lindsey Vonn celebrates at the finish area of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Friday Dec.12, 2025. (AP Photo/Luciano Bisi)
United States' Lindsey Vonn listens to Aksel Lund Svindal ahead of an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Friday Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
United States' Lindsey Vonn speeds down the course during an alpine ski, women's World Cup super-G event, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Sunday Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Gabriele Facciotti)
Lindsey Vonn of the United States reacts after completing an alpine ski, women’s World Cup downhill, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Saturday Dec. 13, 2025 (Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone via AP)
United States' Lindsey Vonn gets emotional as she celebrates winning an alpine ski, women's World Cup downhill, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, Friday Dec. 12, 2025. (Claudio Thoma/Keystone via AP)
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — The explosion was so loud and strong, the elderly resident of northern Tehran said she felt it in her heart, describing the U.S.-Israeli airstrikes that boomed across the Iranian capital and raised columns of smoke.
Streets were largely empty in Tehran on Monday, the third day of the U.S.-Israeli bombing campaign. It was a strong contrast to the previous day when Tehran’s many highways were jammed with traffic as some left the city, and others rushed to stock up on groceries, fearing a long war.
The resident of north Tehran spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals, as did another woman in the capital reached by The Associated Press from outside the country.
“Almost every five hours, large explosions are heard in Tehran and sometimes the building shakes,” the woman said. “There are huge plumes of smoke everywhere in Tehran.”
On Monday, those who remained in the city largely appeared to stay in their homes. Members of the Revolutionary Guard and the paramilitary Basij had checkpoints on many streets, checking vehicles, as well as gathering in some squares, playing mourning music and nationalist songs, said the woman.
Strikes on Sunday night hit a state TV building, causing heavy damage to the Gandhi Hospital across the street, forcing its evacuation. The façade of the hospital was shattered, and rubble from the walls spilled over hospital beds.
On Sunday, authorities organized mass gatherings in a main Tehran square and elsewhere to mourn Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed early in the U.S.-Israeli strikes.
This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Associated Press reporters Amir-Hussein Radjy and Lee Keath in Cairo and Farnoush Amiri in New York contributed to this report.
A government supporter holds a picture of the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei during a gathering after state TV officially announced the death of Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Government supporters mourn during a gathering after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shown in the poster, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A government supporter chants slogan as she holds an Iranian flag while attending a mourning ceremony after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Government supporters gather in mourning after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, under a billboard with graphic showing a U.S aircraft carrier with damaged fighter jets on its deck, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Clerics and other government supporters mourn in a gathering after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Demonstrators wave Iranian flags in a demonstration in support of the government and against U.S. and Israeli strikes in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
An explosion is seen in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Government supporters mourn in a gathering after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, as one of them wears an Iranian flag, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A group of men beat their chests as a sign of grief and mourning near the residency of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026, in the aftermath of his confirmed death in U.S. and Israeli strikes. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man wearing a hat bearing a picture of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei marches with a group of government supporters toward Khamenei's residency in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026, following the confirmed death of Khamenei in U.S. and Israeli strikes. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Two men on a motorcycle decorated with a picture of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei ride ahead a group of government supporters near Khamenei's residency in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026, in the aftermath of his confirmed death in U.S. and Israeli strikes. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Government supporters gather in mourning after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A destroyed police station is seen after it was struck amid the U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Plumes of smoke from two simultaneous strikes rise over Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Mohsen Ganji)
Debris is seen in a room of Gandhi Hospital, which was damaged when a strike hit a state TV communications tower and nearby buildings across the street during the ongoing joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
AA man carrying groceries walks by a picture of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hanging on a black sheet along the side of a mosque in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
People watch as smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo)
Government supporters chant slogans as they gather in mourning after state TV officially announced the death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, shown in the poster, in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man holds an Iranian flag as he looks at the damaged façade of Gandhi Hospital, which was hit Sunday when a strike also struck a state TV communications tower and nearby buildings across the street during the ongoing joint U.S.–Israeli military campaign in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A man shouts slogans as he walks ahead of a group of government supporters marching in support of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026, in the aftermath of his confirmed death in U.S. and Israeli strikes. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A picture of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei hangs on a black sheet along the side of a mosque in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
Smoke rises on the skyline after an explosion in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Feb. 28, 2026.(AP Photo)
People watch from a rooftop as a plume of smoke rises after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A motorcycle drives past a picture of the late Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along an empty street in Tehran, Iran, Sunday, March 1, 2026, following the confirmed death of Khamenei in U.S. and Israeli strikes. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A bird flies by a plume of smoke rising after a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
A poster of the late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed during the ongoing joint U.S.-Israeli military campaign, and the late Iranian Revolutionary founder Ayatollah Khomeini, right, lays on a motorcycle amid debris left by a strike in Tehran, Iran, Monday, March 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Vahid Salemi)
