It was over sooner than expected, and in heartbreaking fashion.
Quickly after leaving the start gate, Lindsey Vonn caught her right arm on a gate on the women’s Olympic downhill course that twisted her in the air and she failed to stick the landing early Sunday morning on a sunny day in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
The crowd was completely silent for the decorated US skier, who had completed a pair of training runs just a week after completely rupturing her ACL in her left knee.
Sequence shows Vonn as she clipped the fourth gate with her right arm that led to her crash. AP
Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashing during the Women’s Downhill at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Getty Images
Lindsay Vonn crashes. REUTERS
Following the crash, Vonn was down on the course for several minutes and the race was put on hold while medical personnel tended to her.
The 41-year-old was eventually airlifted off the course, and fellow racers and fans cheered for the three-time Olympic medalist.
She was transported to a hospital and had surgery to stabilize a fracture in her left leg.
Vonn lays in agony after the crash. Getty ImagesBroadcast cameras panned to Vonn’s family, including her father Alan Kildow and her four younger siblings.
“That was definitely the last thing we wanted to see. It happened quick…” Vonn’s sister Karin Kildow said to NBC. “She just dared greatly. She put it all out there. It’s really hard to see but we hope she is okay.”
United States’ Lindsey Vonn is airlifted away after a crash during an alpine ski women’s downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. AP
A mountain rescue helicopter is seen rescuing Lindsey Vonn of Team United States after she crashed during the Women’s Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics. Getty Images“I know she put her whole heart into it and sometimes things just happen. It’s a very dangerous sport,” she added. The sister was unaware of what’s next for Vonn, but the family plans to meet her at whatever hospital she is headed to.
Three-time Olympic medalist Mikaela Shiffrin posted a broken heart and prayer hands while tagging Vonn in a post on X.
“She’ll be OK, but it’s going to be a bit of a process,” U.S. Ski and Snowboard chief of sport Anouk Patty said. “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.”
Vonn was willing to risk absolutely everything for another chance at gold, and the effort has brought the Olympic comeback that has captivated the world to a crushing end.
American Breezy Johnson — the defending world champion and the racer who paced the field in Saturday’s training run — took the gold medal with a time of 1:36.10 after being the sixth racer to go down the course.
Johnson took first place, followed by Germany’s Emma Aicher (1:36.14) and Italy’s Sofia Goggia (1:36.69). Fellow American Jackie Wiles finished in fourth place, just missing the podium with a time of 1:36.96.
Snoop Dogg reacts to Vonn’s crash out. AFP via Getty Images
Spectators react after Lindsey Vonn crashed. AP
Lindsey Vonn looked strong during an official training session for the women’s downhill event on Saturday, Feb 7, 2026. AFP via Getty Images“I don’t claim to know what she’s going through, but I do know what it is to be here, to be fighting for the Olympics, and to have this course burn you and to watch those dreams die,” Johnson said. “I can’t imagine the pain that she’s going through and it’s not the physical pain — we can deal with physical pain — but the emotional pain is something else.”
Vonn previously won gold in the women’s downhill at the Vancouver Winter Olympics in 2010. She also holds a bronze from the 2010 Super-G and a bronze in the 2018 downhill in Pyeongchang.
