Lindsey Vonn is sharing her reasons for coming out of retirement — and it apparently has nothing to do with the upcoming Winter Olympics.

During an interview on Today On Tuesday, Dec. 10, the 40-year-old ski champion said the upcoming 2026 Olympics was “not a factor” in her decision to return to the sport as she reflected on returning to the FIS Fall Festival competition over the weekend to hit the slopes in Colorado.

“It definitely doesn’t matter in what I’m doing now,” Vonn said of the Olympics, which will be held in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.

“I think everyone knows how much I love Cortina,” she continued, mentioning her record-breaking World Cup victories there. “Let’s see what happens, but I don’t want to create any expectations about it.”

“No one has ever done this with a knee replacement (and) I’m a little older than before,” the professional ski racer said on the show. “So I don’t know… but if I could, that would be great.”

Of course, Vonn has her share of Olympic victories with three gold medals to her credit. Outside the Games, she has won 82 World Cup races.

In 2018, Vonn announced her retirement from skiing, writing on Instagram that she had “accepted” that she could no longer participate in the sport due to a torn collateral ligament. She wrote about the decision in a memoir titled Ascension: My Storypublished in 2022.

She has had to undergo multiple knee surgeries, including a total replacement in April. The athlete documented her journey back to renewed strength in a series of posts on her Instagram.

To stay active, Vonn took up new sports, including wakesurfing. But in November, Vonn shocked the sports world in an interview with The New York Times when she announced she was returning to skiing.

It turns out that Vonn also shocked herself when she told the story Today that she “never thought it would happen” and that she is “just as surprised as everyone else.”

“I always thought (my ski career) was over,” Vonn said. “I mean, if I had the opportunity to continue skiing, of course I would have, but my injuries always held me back.”

Their return so far “has been incredible,” including a mid-table finish at the weekend. “I’m really enjoying this journey,” Vonn said. “I honestly don’t know how far I can take it.”

The skier told Savannah Guthrie, Hoda Kotb and Craig Melvin why she actually decided to go skiing again, that her attitude towards the sport changed after she “felt so good” after the surgery.

“I was no longer in pain and all the things that had bothered me for so many years suddenly disappeared and I thought, ‘If I feel so good about tennis and all these other things, how about skiing?’ Vonn explained.

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The gold medalist now calls her next chapter in skiing “an adventure.”

“I don’t know where this will lead, but I’m so happy to be out of pain and able to do what I love most, skiing,” she shared.

Vonn’s first major tournament since his return will be in the World Cup this winter season.

Today airs weekdays (beginning at 7 p.m. ET) on NBC.