lindsey vonnThe challenging bid to win the Winter Olympics at the age of 41, despite a rebuilt right knee and a badly injured left knee, ended in a horrific crash on Sunday that left him with a broken leg and flown to safety by rescue helicopter for the second time in nine days.
Within seconds of leaving the start house Vonn lost control, clipping the gate with her right shoulder and pinwheeling down the slope before falling awkwardly onto her back, her skis criss-crossed beneath her and her screams echoed shortly after the arrival of medical personnel.
He was treated to agonizingly long periods as silence fell over the crowd waiting far below at the finish line. Vaughn was strapped to a gurney and blown up, possibly ending the skier’s long career. As medical staff tended to Vaughn, he could be heard screaming.
Vaughan was taken to a clinic in Cortina and then transferred to a larger hospital in Treviso, a two-hour drive to the south. “He was being treated by a multidisciplinary team” and “an orthopedic operation was performed to stabilize the fracture in his left leg,” Ca’ Fonsello hospital said in a statement.
The U.S. Ski Team earlier said in a statement that Vonn “is in stable condition and in good hands with the team of American and Italian physicians.”
“She’ll be fine, but it’s going to be a bit of a process,” said Anouk Petty, head of sport for US Ski and Snowboard. “This game is brutal, and people need to remember that when they’re watching it [that] These athletes are throwing themselves down the mountain and going really fast.”
Vonn’s teammate Breezy Johnson became only the second American woman to win the Olympic downhill, after Vonn won 16 years earlier. The 30-year-old Johnson defeated Germany’s Emma Eicher and Italy’s Sofia Goggia on a bittersweet day for the team.
“I don’t claim to know what she’s going through, but I know what it’s like to be here, fighting for the Olympics, and having to burn out on this course and see those dreams die,” said Johnson, whose injury in Cortina in 2022 ruined her hopes of skiing at the Beijing Olympics. “I can’t imagine the pain she’s going through, and it’s not physical pain – we can deal with physical pain – but emotional pain is something else.”
Johnson said Vonn’s coach told her: “Lindsey was cheering me on from the helicopter.”
Johan Elias, president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, said Vonn’s accident was “tragic, but this is ski racing.”
He said, “I can only say thank you to him for what he has done for our sport, because this race has been a talking point in sports and it has put our sport in the best possible light.”
Vonn’s family were in the stands, including her father Alan Kildow, who stared at the field while his daughter was treated after just 13 seconds on the course where she won a record 12 World Cup titles.
Others in the crowd, including rapper Snoop Dogg, watched silently as the star skier was finally removed from the course. fellow american star Mikaela Shiffrin Posted a broken heart emoji on social media.
“It’s like the man who was on the ground, he took a lot of courage,” Vaughn’s sister Karin Kildow told NBC. “She did everything. She always goes 110 percent, never does anything less, so I know she put her whole heart into it. Sometimes things happen. It’s a very dangerous sport.”
All eyes were on Vonn, the feel-good story heading into the Olympics. She returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years away, a remarkable decision considering her age, but she also had a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee. Many wondered how she would perform as she sought a gold medal to add to the gold medal she won in downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
The four-time overall World Cup champion surprised everyone by becoming a contender almost immediately. She came into the Olympics as the leader in the World Cup downhill standings and was a favorite for the gold medal before her crash in Switzerland nine days ago when she suffered her latest knee injury. In addition to the torn ACL, he suffered a bone bruise and meniscus damage.
Yet, even then no one counted him out. She remained at the top of the game for three decades despite injuries. In 2006, before the Turin Olympics, Vonn took a bad fall during downhill training and went to hospital. She competed less than 48 hours later, racing in all four events she had planned, with a top result of seventh place in the super-G.
The Cortina holds many precious memories for Vaughn in addition to record wins. She has been called the Queen of Cortina, and the Olimpia delle Tofene course has always suited Vonn. He tested the knee twice on downhill training runs in the last three days before the horrific crash in clear, sunny conditions on Sunday.
Before the race, Vonn said, “This will be my best comeback ever.” “Definitely the most dramatic.”
This time the drama was of a different kind. maybe not since Hermann MaierAlpine skiing at the Olympics had such a high-profile and spectacular fall following the cartwheeling accident at the 1998 Nagano Games.
International Olympic Committee President Kirsty Coventry said, “Dear Lindsay, we are all thinking of you. You are an incredible inspiration, and will always be an Olympic champion.”
News of the accident spread quickly, including through the fan area down the mountain in Cortina.
“This is a huge loss and disappointing,” said Megan Gunyou of the United States. “I feel like hearing her story and having redemption from her first fall and fighting to get back to the Olympics this year, I mean, I feel so sorry for her.”
Dan Wilton of Vancouver, Canada watched the race from the stands.
“It was terrifying,” he said. “Really, your heart aches for a champion who is reaching the end of her career. Everyone wanted a successful ending.”
ESPN’s Alyssa Roenigk and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
