Lindsey Vonn is leaving Sun Valley with a second-place finish and a heavy heart.
Lucy, her 9-year-old Cavalier King Charles spaniel and faithful travel companion, has failing kidneys and Vonn said the prognosis wasn’t favorable. The American ski racing standout was heading to her place in Utah to be with Lucy.
“I’ve got to go figure it out,” Vonn told The Associated Press as she departed the slopes Tuesday. “I need all the luck I can get.”
Vonn closed out her comeback season Sunday at age 40 with a runner-up performance in the super-G. It was her first World Cup podium finish since March 15, 2018. A year later, she earned downhill bronze at the world championships before calling it a career in large part because of her bad knee. Vonn received a partial knee replacement nearly a year ago, which made her return to competitive ski racing a possibility.
It’s been an exhausting season for Vonn. She was looking forward to soon relaxing on the Bahama beaches.
But Lucy’s diagnosis changed her vacation plans. Lucy has long been a world traveler with Vonn. Three months ago, in Copper Mountain, Colorado, Lucy lounged around in her comfy bed inside the warm lodge waiting for Vonn to return from training.
Vonn brought her dog Leo with her to Sun Valley. She announced on Instagram in November that Leo had been diagnosed with cancer.
“Leo’s doing really good,” Vonn said Tuesday. “He’s here, and he’s happy.”
Vonn was overcome by emotions in the finish area Sunday after a vintage trip — fast and charging — through the Sun Valley course secured a second-place spot. The tears that followed, Vonn said, were a mixture of joy, relief, pride and appreciation that she could make it back this far.
“I just knew that sometimes when you know the only option is to perform, it brings the best out of me,” said Vonn, who posted a heartfelt message Tuesday on Instagram dedicated her late mother. “I used every last ounce of energy that I had, and I tried to put everything together. It kind of felt, honestly, like the Olympics.”
More specifically, her downhill run at the 2010 Vancouver Games when she captured gold. To this day, she can’t watch it without tears.
“This one is going to be the same thing,” Vonn said of Sunday’s electric race. “Even just thinking about it, I get emotional.”
Vonn finished her season with no real aches and pains, either, especially not in her right knee that now contains titanium. Her back, though, is a little sore, “but that’s normal,” Vonn said.
She’s still trying to take it all in — that she did, indeed, make it back to the podium this season. She became the oldest female Alpine ski racer to earn a World Cup podium spot by nearly six years.
“It feels great,” Vonn said. “I always knew that I could do it. … I think a lot of people saw on Sunday what it meant to me. That I love the sport and I appreciate the fact that there’s so many people that have supported me along this journey.”
Vonn plans to head back to Europe at some point for more equipment testing with the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics right around the corner. She didn’t have much of a prep period before announcing in November she was returning to the U.S. ski team.
“Now I actually get to train and do (testing) in the correct way and the way it’s supposed to be done,” Vonn said. “One of the biggest reasons why I love ski racing is you have to perform when the stakes are highest. I am proud of myself that I was able to do it.
“That skill set I have has not gone away, and it gives me a lot of confidence for next year.”
