MILAN — Lindsey Vonn’s magnificent comeback is over, in probably the most devastating approach potential.
Starting thirteenth in a area of 36 for the ladies’s downhill, dealing with the dramatic 2,572-meter Olympia Delle Tofane course, pushing out of the gate at excessive midday, Vonn virtually instantly clipped one of many course’s gates along with her proper shoulder. That was sufficient to ship her spinning over a leap, twisting helplessly over her skis.
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Far beneath, the gang watched in shocked silence.
(Screengrab by IOC through Getty Images)
(Handout through Getty Images)
Screengrab by IOC through Getty Images)
(Handout through Getty Images)
(Screengrab by IOC through Getty Images)
(Handout through Getty Images)
Vonn remained susceptible on the snow, her screams audible on digicam in the instant moments after the crash. Medical employees labored on her because the occasion was halted. Loaded onto a stretcher, a medical helicopter hovered above to hold her from the mountain — simply because it did somewhat greater than every week in the past in Switzerland when she tore her ACL. Fifteen minutes after the crash, Vonn was lifted from the mountain and into the yellow helicopter excessive above.
Vonn’s necessary air bag worn below her race swimsuit did inflate, in accordance with the Associated Press.
Vonn was airlifted to Ca’ Foncello Hospital in Treviso. “In the afternoon, she underwent orthopedic surgery to stabilize the fracture sustained in her left leg,” the hospital mentioned in a press release. She was initially taken to Cortina’s Codivilla Putti Hospital for instant therapy, and later moved to Treviso.
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U.S. Ski & Snowboard mentioned Vonn “sustained an injury, but is in stable condition.”
“It was scary, because when you start to see the stretcher pulled out it’s not a good sign,” Vonn’s sister Karin Kildow advised NBC. “We were just saying like the man in the arena, she just dared greatly. She put it all out there. It’s really hard to see, we just hope she’s OK.”
(Getty Images)
(Ezra Shaw through Getty Images)
(Photo by François-Xavier MARIT / AFP through Getty Images)
(FRANCOIS-XAVIER MARIT through Getty Images)
At the underside of the slope, Vonn’s fellow American Breezy Johnson sat quietly after having posted the quickest time on the course, concern evident on her face. Johnson would go on to win gold, the primary medal for Team USA at these Olympic Games.
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Sunday marked the ultimate act of Vonn’s outstanding journey, one whose sharp twists and frenetic turns matched any downhill course. Vonn, who received three Olympic medals over the course of the primary part of her profession, retired in 2019, her physique damaged although her spirit remained robust. Over the course of her profession, she’d received extra World Cup victories than any girl in historical past, however by the point of her retirement, these podiums have been only a reminiscence. Unable to even hike quick distances with out ache, Vonn reconciled herself to a life off the mountain, pursuing every part from actuality TV stardom to philanthropy.
In 2024, she elected to bear a partial knee substitute in the hopes of residing the remainder of her life with out debilitating ache. But one thing superb occurred: Vonn realized that the ache, all of the ache, was gone from her beleaguered knee. And an thought shaped in her thoughts: Why not get again out there on the slopes and provides it another run?
“I really thought when I retired in 2019, that was it,” Vonn mentioned not too long ago. “I had built an amazing life, I was really happy. But then after the replacement, I knew things were really different. My body felt so good, and I just kind of kept pushing myself further and further to see what I was capable of, and racing seemed like the logical next step.”
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She’d spent your complete 2022 Beijing Olympics in a state of gentle frustration, listening to from buddies and fellow skiers about how the mountain there was made for her abilities. So the truth that the 2026 Games could be held at Cortina d’Ampezzo — website of her first World Cup podium, and 11 extra after that, together with six wins — clinched it for Vonn. She would try a comeback not like every other in snowboarding historical past.
“I don’t think I would have tried this comeback if the Olympics weren’t in Cortina,” Vonn mentioned. “If it had been anywhere else, I would probably say it’s not worth it. But for me, there’s something special about Cortina that always pulls me back, and it’s pulled me back one last time.”
A Team USA supporter seems to be on after US’ Lindsey Vonn crashed and was evacuated by helicopter in the women’s downhill occasion through the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games on the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 8, 2026. (Photo by Stefano RELLANDINI / AFP through Getty Images)
(STEFANO RELLANDINI through Getty Images)
Right out of the gate, Vonn confronted criticism of her motivations, her perceived selfishness, even her psychological state. Olympic gold medalist Franz Klammer declared that “She’s gone completely mad,” and that was one of many kinder critiques.
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But Vonn merely stored snowboarding, and shortly sufficient, she started climbing the standings of World Cup occasions. She blew proper previous U.S. Ski and Snowboarding’s metrics for judging potential Olympic crew members, first climbing onto podiums, after which claiming two extra World Cup victories.
Along the way in which, she metamorphosed from a cute story and the centerpiece of NBC’s Olympic protection right into a authentic medal risk. Ranked sixth in the World Cup standings only a week earlier than the Games started, Vonn appeared like she was on the verge of a narrative that defied even fairytales.
And then: catastrophe. Just one week earlier than the Opening Ceremony, on a Swiss slope that had already seen a number of wrecks, Vonn pinwheeled off the course and right into a barrier. She limped to her toes, the agony on her face evident, and required airlifting from the course. Soon afterward, medical doctors advised her that she’d fully torn her left ACL. Vonn’s Olympic comeback, it appeared, could be a pleasant story, however an finally unfinished one.
But Lindsey Vonn is, because the saying goes, constructed completely different. On Tuesday, 4 days after her crash and two days earlier than her first scheduled downhill observe, Vonn introduced that sure, her ACL was fully torn, and no, she wouldn’t be withdrawing from the Olympics.
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“This is not, obviously, what I had hoped for,” Vonn mentioned. “I’ve been working really hard to come into these Games in a much different position. I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today, but I know there’s still a chance, and as long as there’s a chance, I will try.”
She later posted video of herself lifting weights and leaping on the ACL-less knee, and jabbed again at social media evaluation of each her knee and her motivations.
So when Sunday morning dawned in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Vonn had the chance to create magic. With your complete world watching, she went for it. And although the ending was devastating, the journey was one thing particular to see.
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“It sucks for her,” fellow American Jackie Wiles, who completed fourth, mentioned after. “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.”