Lindsey Vonn faces more criticism for competing at age 40 than Tom Brady, Lewis Hamilton

When Tom Brady played in the NFL well beyond the age of 40, he wasn’t considered crazy for facing 300-pound defensive linemen intent on sacking him.

When Lewis Hamilton recently got behind the wheel of a Ferrari Formula 1 car for the first time at 40, he wasn’t told he’s too old for the elite auto racing series.

So why did Lindsey Vonn face so much second guessing in Europe about her comeback to ski racing at age 40 this season?

Maybe it’s the speeds in downhill that exceed 80 mph (130 kph). Or maybe it was because of Vonn’s long history of crashes and injuries. Or maybe it’s because no woman of her caliber had ever done it before — even though plenty of men have competed successfully in ski racing beyond 40.

Whatever it was, Vonn has a simple explanation for why she returned. It has a lot to do with the multiple injuries that ended her career prematurely back in 2019 and the surgery to replace part of her right knee with titanium that has her feeling better than she has since she was in her 20s.

“The why is that I love skiing,” Vonn told The Associated Press in a recent interview ahead of the world championships starting this week. “The last few years of my career, I was in a lot of pain and I was dealing with a lot of injuries. And I haven’t felt this good in a long, long time.

Before Vonn returned in December after nearly six years of retirement, two-time Olympic champion Michaela Dorfmeister suggested that 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 said that Vonn “hasn’t recognized the meaning and purpose of her other life in recent years.”

But Vonn showed that she can still be competitive when she finished sixth and fourth in a downhill and a super-G in St. Anton, Austria, last month. She’s still rediscovering her speed and has had a few minor falls during her comeback, but she also now has had more time to regain her timing entering worlds at another Austrian resort — in Saalbach-Hinterglemm.

“I don’t feel like I’m 40,” Vonn said. “I think if you would have asked this question a year and a half ago or a year ago, I would have said, ‘Yeah, I feel really old.’ But with my knee I feel so much better. And it’s possible. Anything is possible.”

Besides Brady and Hamilton, Vonn is also inspired by the way Serena Williams excelled even at the end of her career near age 40.

“Tom, Lewis, Serena. They’ve all done it,” Vonn said. “The resources that athletes have now allow for a better recovery. So even though you’re older, you’re still recovering faster than I was when I was in my 20s.