Lindsey Vonn broke her leg as she crashed out of the Winter Olympics downhill on Sunday to brutally end the American skiing great’s improbable dream of a medal.
Vonn was just 13 seconds into her run in bright sunshine in Cortina d’Ampezzo when she hit a gate on her first jump, lost control, twisted in the air and crumpled in the snow.
The pictures of a stricken Vonn will sadly become some of the defining images of the Milan-Cortina Games, where the 41-year-old American had insisted she could still win a medal despite skiing with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament.
Her cries of pain could be heard on the microphones as medical staff attended to her.
Thousands of spectators at the bottom of the run fell silent as they watched the images of the crash on giant screens.
Vonn was eventually strapped into a stretcher and winched into the air by a rescue helicopter as the crowd applauded warmly.
By the evening, the Ca’ Foncello hospital in Treviso where she was treated said that she had required “surgery to stabilise a fracture of the left leg”.
Her US teammate Breezy Johnson went on to win the downhill gold medal, but her first thoughts were for Vonn, saying: “My heart goes out to her.”
Vonn’s sister Karin Kildow, who watched the crash on giant screens at the course, said: “That definitely was the last thing we wanted to see.”
– ‘Incredible inspiration’ –
Just two weeks ago, Vonn, one of global sport’s most recognisable faces, looked in contention to cap a remarkable comeback from retirement by winning the second Olympic gold medal of her career — her last came 16 years ago in the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
She had retired in 2019 but returned to the slopes in 2024 after surgery to insert a titanium implant in her right knee to quell persistent pain.
But her Olympic plans were thrown into disarray when she crashed in a World Cup race at Crans Montana, Switzerland, on January 30.
In a press conference once she arrived in Italy, she admitted that she had ruptured her ACL in that fall, but insisted that she could still compete for medals, although she conceded: “I know what my chances were before the crash and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today.”
In view of what happened on Sunday, some will question whether Vonn should have competed at all, but it was her choice.
The president of the International Olympic Committee, Kirsty Coventry, called Vonn an “incredible inspiration” after the crash on Sunday, adding: “We’re all thinking of you.”
In other action, the team skating competition was boiling down to a battle later on Sunday between US figure skating sensation Ilia Malinin and Japan’s Shun Sato, with both countries tied on points heading into the final session.
Japan took the lead in the competition after the women’s single free skating, with Kaori Sakamoto winning and Team USA’s Amber Glenn slipping to third.
Malinin, 21, produced an eye-catching back-flip in his Olympic debut on Saturday but his routine was below his best. He must now excel to help the USA retain the gold that they won in Beijing four years ago.
On the second full day of the Milan-Cortina Games, Czech snowboarder Zuzana Maderova won gold in the women’s parallel giant slalom after the shock exit of defending champion Ester Ledecka.
Ledecka crashed out in the quarter-finals as the Czech chased what would have been a historic snowboarding title in three consecutive Olympics.
In Tesero, Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo racked up the sixth Olympic gold medal of his career by taking the skiathlon title.
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump attacked as a “real loser” a US Olympic freestyle skier who had said that he had mixed feelings about representing America, given its acute tension over violent immigration raids and other political crises.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Hunter Hess said that it “brings up mixed emotions to represent the US right now”.
On Sunday, Trump hit back: “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it. Very hard to root for someone like this.”
