Lindsey Vonn's much-anticipated return to the Winter Olympics ended in disappointment when the American skiing legend crashed during the women's downhill final, bringing her comeback to a heartbreaking close.
The 41-year-old former Olympic champion was racing in Cortina after a six-year break from the sport, and just nine days after rupturing the ACL in her left knee during a training crash ahead of the Games. Her run lasted only 13 seconds — she had just rounded the second corner when she lost control and went down. The 41-year-old flew over a hill before veering into a plastic course marker at the edge of the track and crashing hard onto the snow.
Comeback Ends in Disappointment
Her right leg appeared to take the first impact, kicking up a cloud of powder, before she flipped forward again and seemed to slam her shoulder into the ground, eventually coming to a stop on the slope. The atmosphere in Cortina turned eerily quiet as medical teams rushed to her side.
Vonn was later airlifted off the mountain as worried fans looked on. The scenes were deeply distressing.
With her skis still attached, Vonn lay on her back in the snow, visibly wincing in pain. She could be heard crying out as medics carefully lifted her onto a stretcher, underscoring the severity of the fall and the heartbreak of the moment.
Organizers turned on background music in an effort to drown out the skier's cries as Vonn was lifted onto a stretcher. At 41, she had already defied the odds simply by making it to the start line.
After rupturing her ACL before the Games, Vonn completed several training runs in the lead-up to Sunday's race, determined to compete despite the risks.
Questions had been raised about whether she was pushing herself too far, especially after undergoing a right knee reconstruction in 2024 and then suffering another ACL rupture ahead of the tournament. Still, Vonn chose to take her place in the downhill final.
Her determination had shown signs of promise in training. On Friday, she clocked a time just 1.39 seconds off the fastest run, and she improved again on Saturday with a run of one minute and 38 seconds — 37 seconds behind teammate Breezy Johnson, who would go on to win gold on Sunday.
Shattered Dreams
As Vonn launched out of the start gate on race day, her coach could be heard urging her on, shouting, "Keep charging, keep pushing." Moments later, the downhill was halted, with other competitors removing their skis at the top of the course as they waited for her to be evacuated from the mountain.
The dramatic scenes left many shaken, including BBC pundit and former alpine skier Chemmy Alcott, who was visibly distressed as events unfolded 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 was 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.
"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 shared that it was likely Vonn would be flown to a hospital in Innsbruck, Austria, for further treatment.
