Skiing legend Lindsey Vonn, 41, CRASHES out of Winter Olympics as fairytale comeback
Lindsey Vonn‘s Winter Olympics comeback ended in heartbreak after the American star crashed out of the women’s downhill final.
The former Olympic champion, 41, was competing in Cortina following a six-year hiatus from the sport and only nine days on from rupturing the ACL in her left knee in a training run crash ahead of the Games.
Vonn was just 13 seconds into her run and had rounded the second corner when she appeared to lose control.
The 41-year-old sped over a hill and careered into one of the plastic markers on the side of the track before hitting the ground. Her right leg appeared to hit the ground first, as a cloud of powder engulfed the American. Vonn then tumbled forwards again, appearing to smash her shoulder into the ground, before coming to a halt on the slope.
The Cortina crowd fell silent as medical crews arrived to attend to Vonn, who was later airlifted off the mountain.
Distressing scenes then erupted, with Vonn, whose skis had not detached from her boots, winced in pain as she lay on her back in the snow. The American was also heard crying out in agony as the medics placed her onto a stretcher.
American skier Lindsey Vonn (pictured) was airlifted off the mountain on Sunday after she suffered a horrific crash during the women’s downhill final
Vonn, who ruptured her ACL just before the Winter Olympics, appeared to lose control as she glided over a jump just 13 seconds into her run
Vonn lost control and crashed to the ground, before medics rushed to attend the American star
The 41-year-old had defied the impossible by coming back to compete after rupturing her ACL prior to the Games and had completed multiple training runs in the build-up to Sunday’s event.
The 2010 downhill Olympic champion had made the decision to race despite having a reconstruction in her knee in 2024 while also having no ACL in her left leg.
Vonn’s coach was heard shouting ‘keep charging, keep pushing’ just as she left the gates.
It took a while for medics to attend Vonn on the slopes but the American was eventually placed onto a stretcher. Organisers had also played background music over the skier’s cries.
The downhill event was subsequently suspended with other competitors removing their skis at the top of the slope.
BBC pundit and former alpine skier Chemmy Alcott was distressed by the scenes unfolding in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
‘I feel guilty that I am this emotional,’ Alcott said to the BBC. ‘I just never believed it would end in a clump at the side of the piste, not moving. What we saw that the top of the piste is really hard for a fit athlete, she just had her right knee. It is brutal, think about her family, her team and herself.
Vonn initially landed on her right leg – she had undergone a reconstruction on her right knee in 2024 – before she flipped over and appeared to smash her shoulder into the ground
Vonn was airlifted off the slope, with a helicopter arriving to take her to hospital
The downhill event was subsequently suspended with other competitors removing their skis at the top of the slope
Vonn (pictured) had made the decision to race today having completed two practice runs at Olimpia delle Tofane in Cortina after rupturing her ACL
Her US team-mate Breezy Johnson, who had taken first place, looked distressed after seeing a replay of Vonn’s run
‘We have to be realistic. The risk was really high, the risk she takes when she falls will double that, her body will not be able to take that. There is clapping and there is hope that she would be okay but they have put up some background music because it is uncomfortable.’
Alcott later revealed that it was likely that Vonn was going to be taken to a hospital in Innsbruck in Austria. She added that the doctor who had helped her through her ACL injury was in Cortina and was able to get into the helicopter with her.
‘The good news is the doctor who did her knee was here on the hill and was able to get in that helicopter with her,’ Alcott added.
‘They are currently in Cortina, the helicopter landed but she won’t be going to a local hospital – it can’t deliver on what she needs. It is likely that she will be going over to Innsbruck.’
Vonn’s team-mate, Breezy Johnson covered her face as a replay of the crash was played on the big screens at the 2,650m Olympia delle Tofane slope at Cortina d’Ampezzo.
‘Breezy Johnson will not be enjoying sitting in that [gold medal] chair,’ Alcott added to the BBC. ‘We all know what Lindsey has done to our sport. Lindsey was an early bib number and the temperature is increasing so the later athletes will be taking a big risk.
A gasp went up among fans at the Olimpia delle Tofane in Cortina, as they too were shown a replay of Vonn’s crash
Chemmy Alcott later revealed that the doctor who had worked with her on her recent ACL injury had been present in Cortina and had jumped into the helicopter with her
‘It means the surface won’t be as constant and the trust in the ski won’t be as good.’
US star Johnson would go on to claim gold with a time of 1:36.10, just 0.04 seconds ahead of Germany’s Emma Aicher, who took silver. Italian star Sofia Goggia took bronze, posting a time just 0.59 seconds behind Johnson.
Johnson, who had been banned by the US Anti-Doping Agency for 14 months, backdated to 2023, after missing drugs tests in a 12-month window, said: ‘It’s a little bit nerve-wracking to sit in the leader’s chair but it’s way harder to sit there at the top waiting for your run.’
On Sunday, she became the first American woman to win Olympic Gold in women’s downhill skiing since Vonn claimed victory at Vancouver in 2010.
Questions had mounted over whether Vonn was taking a risk in competing with a ruptured left knee ligament and a titanium right knee.
During her glittering career, Vonn cemented her status as one of the greatest speed skiers in history, notably winning one gold medal at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, while also claiming two bronze medals in the Super-G at Vancouver and another in downhill in Pyongyang.
Vonn has also claimed an astonishing 84 World Cup victories in super-g, downhill, Slalom and Giant Slalom events during her glittering career. She would go on to announce that she was retiring in 2019, but would make a surprise comeback in 2024 after undergoing knee replacement surgery. Vonn returned to become the oldest downhill World Cup winner when she claimed her 83rd victory in St Moritz in December 2025.
A sports medicine doctor had raised concerns about whether Vonn had already been competing on a partially ruptured ACL before it was revealed that she had suffered the horrific injury. But Vonn hit back at the medic on social media.
‘What was the state of her ACL before the crash last week?’ Sutterer wrote on X. ‘What she is doing now would not be nearly as surprising in an elite athlete whose knee was already functioning like the ACL was torn at baseline.’
Vonn has enjoyed a glittering career in the sport with the American notably claiming gold at the Winter Olympics in Vancoucver back in 2010
Johnson (pictured) became the first American woman to win Olympic gold in a downhill race since Vonn in 2010
The American Olympic Champion hit back, writing: ‘Lol thanks doc. My ACL was fully functioning until last Friday. Just because it seems impossible to you doesn’t mean it’s not possible. And yes, my ACL is 100% ruptured. Not 80 per cent or 50 per cent. It’s 100 per cent gone.’
On Saturday, the 41-year-old had also hit back at USA Today columnist Greg Graber who speculated why Vonn may be continuing to compete at 41.
‘It has been my experience working with elite athletes that it is not uncommon for many to base most of their self-worth on their athletic performance,’ Graber writes.
Vonn took issue with his claim.
‘I’m sorry Greg but this is a very odd opinion piece,’ Vonn wrote on X. ‘The pain and suffering is the point?
‘I’m searching for meaning? Why am I taking risk “at my age?” This ageism stuff is getting really old.
‘My life does not revolve around ski racing. I am a woman that loves to ski. I don’t have an identity issue, I know exactly who I am. I was retired for 6 years and I have an amazing life. I don’t need to ski, but I love to ski. I came all this way for one final Olympics and I’m going to go and do my best, ACL or no. It’s as simple as that.
‘And respectfully, if you don’t know the story, it might be best not to make assumptions.’
After Vonn had been evacuated from the slope, Austrian star Nina Ortleib would also fall during her run.
More worrying scenes later emerged from the mountain as Andorran star Cande Moreno (pictured) was also airlifted from the course, after she had also suffered a horrific-looking crash further down from Vonn
Ortleib was in the final third of her downhill run when she appeared to jump into the air after going over a bump.
She landed in the middle of the slope before losing control, with the Austrian falling to the ground and sliding around 10m down the slope.
Ortleib, thankfully, got up onto her feet and began to ski down the mountain.
However, more worrying scenes later emerged from the mountain as Andorran star Cande Moreno was also airlifted from the course, after she had also suffered a horrific-looking crash further down from Vonn.