By Billie Eder
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Livigno: American skier Lindsey Vonn has undergone surgery to stabilise a fractured leg, after a horrific crash in the women’s downhill skiing at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics.
The 41-year-old former Olympic champion defied science, and expectations, to get to the start line after rupturing her ACL nine days earlier, but a fall 13 seconds into Sunday’s medal event ended her hopes of another Olympic medal.
Vonn was airlifted from the slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo on Sunday following the crash, and taken to a clinic in Cortina, before she was transferred to a larger hospital in Treviso.
A statement from the Ca Foncello hospital said Vonn was being “treated by a multidisciplinary team” and “underwent an orthopedic operation to stabilise a fracture reported in her left leg”.
Vonn clipped a gate midair while she was going over a jump, which sent her spinning out before she hit the snow and tumbled down the course. She lay motionless on the snow as medical staff rushed to her assistance.
Teammate Breezy Johnson – the competition leader at the time – had her head in her hands after watching footage of the crash at the bottom of the course, while American fans and coaches looked on in horror.
American fans react at the women’s downhill skiing after Lindsey Vonn’s crash.Credit: Getty Images
After 15 minutes on the snow, a helicopter arrived and airlifted Vonn from the course before competition resumed.
Johnson was crowned Olympic champion an hour and a half later, with Germany’s Emma Aicher winning silver and Italy’s Sofia Goggia securing bronze.
“My heart goes out to her, I hope it’s not as bad as it looked,” Johnson said after winning gold.
“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.”
Olympic champion Breezy Johnson.Credit: Getty Images
Johnson said she empathised with Vonn and knew, in part, how she must be feeling. Johnson withdrew from the 2022 Olympics following a crash on the course in Cortina, two weeks before the Olympics in Beijing. She tore cartilage in her knee in the accident and was given the option to try to compete, but didn’t want to cause permanent damage to her knee.
“I don’t claim to know what she’s going through, but I do know what it’s like to be here, to be fighting for the Olympics and to have this course burn you and to watch those dreams die,” Johnson said.
“It was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life. I can’t imagine the pain she’s going through, and it’s not the physical pain. We can deal with the physical pain. But the emotional pain is something else. I wish her the best and I hope this isn’t the end.”
Lindsey Vonn is airlifted out of the arena.Credit: AP
International Ski and Snowboard Federation president Johan Eliasch said these kinds of incidents were the harsh reality of the sport.
“Tragic, but it’s ski racing, I’m afraid. I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport because this race has been the talk of the Games, and it’s put our sport in the best possible light,” he said.
“I hope she will have a speedy recovery and be back on skis very soon.”
It’s a devastating end to Vonn’s Olympic campaign, after she was determined to start in the event despite her ACL injury nine days ago.
The five-time Olympian posted videos of intense training and rehabilitation in the lead-up to the event, appearing to function as if nothing had happened.
Vonn’s comeback was already a huge talking point of the Games – returning to the Olympics after almost six years in retirement and two after the insertion of a titanium replacement in her right knee.
It wasn’t the only crash on the slopes of Cortina for Sunday’s medal event, with Andorra’s Cande Moreno also being choppered off the course after a fall 30 seconds into her run.
The Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.
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Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: www.smh.com.au
