Lindsey Vonn is back on the podium after a relegation race at the World Cup on Saturday, splitting by a slim 0.24 seconds.
A day later Making him the oldest World Cup downhill winnerThe 41-year-old American finished second in a race in St. Moritz, Switzerland, on Saturday.
After winning the season opener downhill on Friday by nearly a full second, Vonn was beaten by just one runner this time: Germany’s Emma Aicher was 0.24 seconds faster.
Vonn credited landing a jump in the middle of the gap to get the gap, when she almost lost her balance for a moment and leaned hard on her left leg to get back up.
“I’m a bit tired from yesterday, there was a lot of emotion,” Vonn told Swiss channel RTS. “I thought I skied pretty well at the top, then I lost my balance and fell on my hip. Yeah, I didn’t ski the bottom the way I wanted.”
Gabriele Facciotti / AP 
Sofia Goggia, the 2018 Olympic champion from Italy, was third, 0.29 behind, and Breezy Johnson, the American world champion, was fourth, 0.40 back.
Vonn, who is preparing for the Milan Cortina Olympics, came out on top with a sunny ride in Corviglia. But the 22-year-old Aicher dropped next and quickly pushed Vonn from the leader’s seat.
Vonn went back to skiing last season after almost six years of retirement — After a partial replacement surgery on the right knee, including the insertion of two pieces of titanium.
Three-time Olympic winner he told CBS Sunday Morning in March that he “never thought” he would talk about going to the Olympics again. Talking about going to Italy means he’s “already winning”.
“I’m going to be at a disadvantage,” Vonn said. “I’m 40 years old, and next year I’ll be 41. But I know my skiing is there. Honestly, I think I’m better than in the last years of my career.
Vonn’s results are shaping up to make her a top contender for a medal at the Olympics — and one capable of competing with skiers half her age. Women’s alpine skiing will be held at the February 6-22 Winter Games in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds a record 12 World Cup victories.
Vonn recorded a top speed of 64 mph in the upper section; he increased his speed to 68 mph in the bottom and went 41 yards off a jumper toward the end of the run.
Vonn also set the fastest time in the final sector, a sign of her increasing fitness this season. He said earlier this week that he had put on 12 pounds of muscle during dryland training over the summer and followed a strict diet.
When Vonn crossed the finish line and saw that she was ahead of Goggia, Vonn celebrated, thinking she had won. He let out a scream, punched the air with one of his poles and then raised his arms above his head, shaking his head in apparent disbelief.
It was Vonn’s 140th podium finish and came in a record 410th World Cup race. Former Austrian skier Renate Götschl held the previous record with 409 runs.
It was Aicher’s third World Cup victory and second downhill. She is the rare skier capable of being competitive in all four disciplines, like Vonn in the prime of her career.
Aicher also has a podium finish in slalom this season, placing third in Levi, Finland.
Vonn can claim another victory in a super-G in St. Moritz on Sunday – a race that will also feature American star Mikaela Shiffrin.
Shiffrin hasn’t been racing downhill.