Lindsey Vonn has crashed out of the Winter Olympics as her fairytale comeback to the downhill event ended in disaster.
The 41-year-old skiing legend’s preparations for her return were disrupted when she ruptured her left anterior cruciate ligament the week before in a World Cup contest at Crans-Montana.
Defying the odds, the American was determined to compete in Milan-Cortina but her comeback ended in heartbreak when she crashed early on during her run on Sunday.
Starting as the 13th skier, Vonn clipped a gate and somersaulted off the course just 13.5 seconds into her run, silencing the Cortina crowd.
The silence was broken by the cries of Vonn that echoed down the mountain.
She was on the ground for around 15 minutes before being airlifted off the course, with spectators cheering her as the helicopter flew over.
The American 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 last week.
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. Alas, it wasn’t to be.
Well-wishes pour in for Lindsey Vonn
Vonn’s American team-mate Breezy Johnson won gold, but her focus was on the well-being of her stricken friend.
‘My heart goes out to her. I hope it’s not as bad as it looked,’ the second American woman to win Olympic downhill gold, after Vonn in 2010, said.
‘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.’
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.’
Isabella Wright was the fourth member of the American team and she felt Vonn ‘deserved a better ending than that’.
She said: ‘It was really heartbreaking. Jackie (Wiles) and myself were up top, so we saw it live. You don’t want that for anyone and you especially don’t want it for your team-mate and for Lindsey.
‘I always say this, ‘if anyone can do it, it’s Lindsey”. Whatever it is, or whatever the situation, she’s very strong. We’re going to support her the best we can.’
