Vonn crashes in Olympic downhill after ACL injury

Lindsey Vonn was airlifted off the piste

American skier Lindsey Vonn crashed in the women's downhill competition at the Winter Olympics nine days after rupturing ligaments in her left knee.

The 41-year-old had successfully completed two training runs on the iconic Olimpia delle Tofane course in Cortina but crashed early in her run.

She was tended to for a lengthy period on the slope before being airlifted off the piste.

Vonn was taking a huge risk by competing on Sunday having suffered the ACL injury in Switzerland in the last World Cup race before the Games.

But she was determined to take to the course in what she says will be her final Olympics.

Stunned spectators in the stands applauded towards the helicopter as it carried her away from the piste which has brought her so much success in the past - with 12 of her 84 World Cup wins coming here.

Vonn was the 13th skier to go in the women's downhill and clipped the first gate which put her off balance as she was turning when she crashed.

The treatment she needed after the crash led to a significant delay to the competition, which compatriot Breezy Johnson led at the time.

Johnson held her head in her hands as she watched her team-mate carried away by the helicopter.

Vonn had appeared relaxed in the training runs and in the morning before the race. Her coach Aksel Lund Svindal said on Friday that he felt confident she could pull off something spectacular.

No stranger to a comeback, Vonn retired from the sport in 2019 as the most decorated female skier at the time but had suffered several serious leg injuries.

She made a shock return to the sport in 2024 having had a partial knee replacement in her right knee.

Vonn was tipped for the podium in Cortina following a successful 2025-26 season, in which she reached the podium in all five races, winning two.

But this latest crash leaves a significant doubt over whether Vonn will ski competitively again.

'Brutal' ending after Vonn took 'really high risk'

Vonn knew the risk she was taking by competing on Sunday and had even hit back at a doctor on social media who claimed the injury was "not a fresh tear".

She responded by saying her ACL is "100% torn" and had hoped to defy the odds by replicating the Olympic downhill gold medal she won in Vancouver in 2010.

Videos on social media had shown her training in the gym after she said she had no pain or swelling of the knee, while two smooth runs in the build-up to the race had given her, and her team and fans, confidence.

Four-time British Olympian Chemmy Alcott was emotional on BBC coverage and said she "never believed" it would end in this way.

"What we saw [is] that the top of the piste is really hard for a fit athlete. 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."

Alcott added that the long delay would also mean the snow on the piste would begin to melt in the midday sun, and therefore it would be unlikely that anyone would beat Johnson's time of one minute 36.10 seconds.