Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic comeback ended in heartbreak as the American was airlifted to hospital after crashing in the early stages of her women’s downhill run in Cortina.
The 41-year-old damaged her ACL when falling in a World Cup contest at Crans-Montana just over a week ago, but she had been determined to compete in Sunday’s event at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre.
Starting as the 13th skier, Vonn clipped a gate and somersaulted off the course just seconds into her run, silencing the Cortina crowd.
Vonn was on the ground for around 15 minutes before being airlifted off the course, with spectators cheering her as the helicopter flew over.
Fellow American Breezy Johnson took the title but some of her first thoughts were for Vonn.
She said: “My heart goes out to her. I hope it’s not as bad as it looked.
“I know how difficult it is to ski this course and how sometimes, because you love this course so much, when you crash on it and hurts you like that, it hurts that much worse.
“My heart just goes out to her.”
Another team-mate, fourth-placed Jacqueline Wiles, spoke of Vonn’s influence over the squad.
She said: “I’m still processing a lot, after what happened with Lindsey. She looks hurt quite a bit. So I’m really happy, proud of Breezy and my heart hurts for Lindsey.
“It sucks for her. We’re such a tight group. Lindsey has really been a huge mentor for all of us and seeing her go down like that, it really sucks.
“It doesn’t change anything about her legacy. She’s a fighter and that’s the way that she’s going to go out and ski every time.”
Vonn initially retired from the sport in 2019 due to injury but, after undergoing a partial knee replacement in April 2024, she returned to competition in December that year and had won two World Cup events this season before her fall in Switzerland.
Vonn had successfully completed two practice runs on the course on Friday and Saturday, wearing a brace on her injured knee and her coach Aksel Lund Svindal felt she was in “good enough” condition to challenge for a medal.
International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) president Johan Eliasch described her fall as “tragic”.
He said: “I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport, because this race has been the talk of the Games and it’s put our sport in the best possible light.
“I hope she will have a speedy recovery and be back on skis very soon.”
When asked whether some felt Vonn should not have been allowed to race with her injury, he added: “Well then they don’t know Lindsey. That’s all I can say.”
