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Lindsey Vonn Wasn’t Giving Up On Her Olympic Dreams
On Sunday (February 8), U.S. Olympian Lindsey Vonn crashed during a race and had to be airlifted to the hospital.
41-year-old Vonn is one of the most decorated skiers in the world. Over the course of her career, she has won three Olympic medals (one gold) and four World Cup overall championships.
Vonn retired from elite skiing for nearly six years and underwent knee replacement surgery in 2024. She returned to competing last season. Once she did, Vonn proved to be as powerful an athlete as ever. Many considered her a favorite to win a gold medal at this year’s Winter Olympics.
But Vonn’s Olympic future came into question after she crashed during a race in Switzerland just a few days before the games began. She ruptured her ACL, suffered a bone bruise, and damaged her meniscus.
Despite this, Vonn remained determined to ski in the Olympics. Just one day before her downhill run, she said:
“I will stand in the starting gate tomorrow and know I am strong. Know that I believe in myself. Know that the odds are stacked against me with my age, no ACL, and a titanium knee- but know that I still believe. And usually, when the odds are stacked against me the most, I pull the best of what’s inside me out.
I will race tomorrow in my final Olympic Downhill and while I can’t guarantee a good result, I can guarantee I will give it everything I have. But no matter what happens, I have already won.”
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Lindsey Vonn Had To Be Airlifted Off The Course Of The Olympics’ Downhill Ski Race
Vonn took to the course to race in the women’s downhill event on Sunday (February 8). It’s the same event that Vonn earned a gold medal for in 2010, becoming the first American woman to do so.
ESPN reports that Vonn was only a few seconds into her race when she lost control over the opening traverse and crashed. USA Today details how she hooked the fourth gate with her right arm, which threw her off balance. Despite her efforts to regain control, she fell headfirst into the snow.
Vonn could be heard screaming in pain as medical personnel rushed to her aid.
The Olympics paused the race for over 20 minutes. Vonn was eventually airlifted off the mountain by a helicopter and taken to a hospital for treatment.
Vonn’s family members, including her sister, Karin Kildow, were watching in the crowd when she crashed.
“That definitely was the last thing we wanted to see,” Kildow said. “She always goes 110 percent, there’s never anything less, so I know she put her whole heart into it and sometimes things happen. It’s a very dangerous sport.”
Andorra’s Cande Moreno crashed later in the downhill race, and was also airlifted off of the mountain.
Vonn’s teammate, U.S. skier Breezy Johnson, won the gold medal in the event, securing Team USA’s first gold medal at the Winter Games. Emma Aicher of Germany won silver, and Italy’s Sofia Goggia won bronze.
Johnson spoke about Vonn’s crash, with ESPN quoting her as saying:
“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 it hurts you like that, it hurts that much worse. My heart just goes out to her.”
Vonn Underwent Surgery After The Crash
The U.S. Ski & Snowboard Team published a statement at 11:05 AM ET, reading:
“Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians.”
Later on Sunday, it was confirmed that Vonn underwent surgery at the Ca’ Foncello Hospital in Treviso, Italy. Reuters cites a statement from the hospital, which reads:
“In the afternoon, she underwent orthopedic surgery to stabilise [sic] the fracture sustained in her left leg.”
An anonymous source told Reuters that there is no threat to Vonn’s life. According to this source, Vonn is being monitored in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Anouk Patty, the chief of sport for the U.S. Ski and Snowboard team, said Vonn will be alright, “but it’s going to be a bit of a process.”
“This sport’s brutal, and people need to remember when they’re watching [that] these athletes are throwing themselves down a mountain and going really, really fast,” Patty added, as quoted by ESPN.
Lindsey Vonn Releases Statement After Her Crash
Vonn shared her first known social media post the day after the crash (February 9). Her post was in response to UK journalist Dan Walker, who wrote on X:
“I love the Winter Olympics but there have been quite a few articles questioning whether @lindseyvonn should have been competing in Italy at the age of 41 with an injured ACL. I think her attitude is the very essence of sport. It wasn’t just about chasing glory… it was about defiance. This is what sport looks like when you strip away the polish. It’s not comfortable… it’s painful.”
He added, “I hope her body heals quickly and she knows she will always be a winner.”
Vonn responded, “Thank you Dan.”
Then, later on February 9, Vonn addressed her crash and injury in a statement she shared on her Instagram page. She detailed just how dangerous downhill ski racing can be, and was, in her case.
“Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would,” she said. “It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail [sic], it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.”
She clarified that her ruptured ACL and other past injuries had nothing to do with the crash that ended her Olympic run. Rather, she confirmed earlier reports that she hooked the inside of a gate.
