When Lindsey Vonn won the first speed race of the 2024-25 World Cup after coming out of retirement at 40, it felt unreal. At that moment, she called her father, Alan Kildow, who Vonn described had “cried so hard.” But just months later, at the Winter Olympics, that same father watched his daughter crash and lie in pain, leading him to openly declare, “This is the end of her career.” However, Vonn seems to have brushed aside her father’s plea and made her stance clear.

“I am 41 years old, yeah. I can make decisions on my own,” Lindsey Vonn said in a recent interview with CBS Morning. And then, she added, “My dad jumped the gun. If you know, he should know by now that if you tell me not to do something, I’m going to do it.” And that response stems from years of a complex relationship between the two.

From the beginning, Kildow played a central role in shaping her career. After all, he was a competitive skier himself on the National Junior Circuit. And that’s how he recognized her talent early. When Vonn was just eleven, the family moved from Minnesota to Vail, Colorado, so she could train at a higher level. As a result, Vonn became one of the greatest skiers, with 84 World Cup wins.

As Lindsey Vonn grew older, she wanted to make her own choices and decisions, but her father remained involved in her decision-making. Over time, this difference led to tension. By the mid-2000s, she said they had a “troubled” relationship, and eventually, they grew so distant they no longer talked to each other for years. They later reconnected in 2011, but even now, traces of that old dynamic still seem to surface.

Sure, Kildow’s declaration of her retirement came from fear after the Olympic crash. But for Vonn, it seemed to have the opposite effect: “So my dad might be the tipping point of why I come back one more time.”

That mindset carries into what Lindsey Vonn is saying now. “I want to ski regardless of whether I’m racing or not. I love the mountains,” she said. “That’s always been my passion since I was a kid. So you’ll see me skiing one way or another.” But the bigger question remains: when, or even if, will Lindsey Vonn return to competitive skiing? Right now, the answer is far from clear.

Lindsey Vonn faces the hardest climb of her career yet

Lindsey Vonn is still in recovery after suffering a complex left leg fracture in the Olympic downhill crash on February 8, an injury so severe it nearly led to amputation. Physically, she is improving, but slowly. Even for her, basic milestones are something that gives her hope. “Monday will be a big day for me… because I’m going off crutches for at least 20 yards,” she said. Yet while her body is healing, her mind is still catching up.

“I haven’t even really got to the mental healing,” Lindsey Vonn admitted, making it clear that the emotional weight of the crash is still very real after three months of crash. This means any return to racing is premature.

Even Lindsey Vonn herself is not rushing into a decision. “I just don’t want to jump to any conclusions or even speculate on what I might do,” she said. “I may retire. I may never race again, and that would be completely fine, but I’m not in a position emotionally to make that decision at this point.”

Even from a physical standpoint, the timeline is long. Lindsey Vonn still has another surgery ahead, which is ACL reconstruction. “Nothing would really happen until ’27-28,” she explained, adding that, “Once I get my ACL fixed, then that’s another six months, so I have at least I would say a year and a half ahead of me before I could really be back to 100%, even just training in the gym.”

So while Lindsey Vonn isn’t ready to walk away, she isn’t ready to promise a return either. For now, the focus is simple: heal, step by step, and let the future wait.