Nearly a week after her serious knee injury, Lindsey Vonn’s hopes for Olympic downhill skiing at Milano Cortina 2026 ended when she crashed out of the race on Sunday, 8 February.
After hitting a gate, the legendary skier shouted in pain as she fell, and the crowd fell silent for a minute, while her coach, Aksel Lund Svindal, watched with concern. The race was paused for over 10 minutes before Vonn was airlifted to a hospital for medical care.
“It’s hard to believe. We just hope she will be ok,” Vonn’s sister Karin Kildow told NBC.
On January 30, the US Alpine skiing legend experienced a ruptured ACL, bone bruising, and meniscal damage during the Crans-Montana downhill, which was later cancelled, according to the Olympic official website.
“It’s tragic,” International Ski Federation president Johan Eliasch, who was present at the race, was quoted as saying. “But what can I say? It’s ski racing and knowing Lindsey, I wouldn’t count her out for [French Alps] 2030.”
