Crans-Montana, Switzerland — lindsey vonn She crashed Friday in her final downhill race before the Olympics and injured her left knee, but said she still hoped to recover in time for the Milan Cortina Winter Games.
“This is a very tough result a week before the Olympics… but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s bounce back,” the 41-year-old American wrote on Instagram, hours after being pulled off the course for a medical checkup. “My Olympic dream is not over.”
Vonn was the third skier to crash in a World Cup race in Crans-Montana, when she lost control on a jump and became entangled in the safety net at the upper part of the course.
After receiving medical attention for about five minutes, she got up, appearing to be in pain and using her cane to steady herself. Vonn then walked slowly to the finish line, stopping a few times along the way and holding her left knee.
“I crashed in the downhill race in Switzerland today and injured my left knee. I am discussing the situation with my doctors and the team and will continue to undergo further tests.” Vaughan wrote in his Instagram post. “Thank you all for your love and support. I’ll let you know when I have more information.”
The race, which was held in difficult conditions with low visibility, was canceled after Vonn’s accident.
The American, expected to be one of the biggest stars of the Games, limped to a tent for medical care before being airlifted by helicopter, with two people tending to her and one dangling from a dangling cable.
Before entering the tent, Vonn had a worried expression on her face and her eyes were closed during a long hug with teammate Jacqueline Wills, who was on the front lines when the race was cancelled.
“I know he hurt his knee, I talked to him,” Urs Lehmann, CEO of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, told reporters in the Finnish arena. “I don’t know if it’s really heavy or not [if] She won’t miss the Olympics. Let’s wait and see what the doctors say.”
Vonn made a spectacular comeback last season at the age of 40 after nearly six years away from ski racing. Skiing with a partial titanium implant in her right knee, she has been the circuit’s leading downhiller with two wins and three other podium finishes in five races this season.
Including super-G, Vonn had completed eight World Cup races this season and finished on the podium in seven of them. His worst performance was fourth.
The accident occurred just a week before the Milan Cortina opening ceremony.
Vonn’s first Olympic race is the women’s downhill on February 8. She also planned to compete in the super-G and new team combined events at the Games.
Women’s skiing at the Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds a record 12 World Cup wins.
Vonn was also planning to race a super-G in Crans-Montana on Saturday, which would have been her final race before the Games.
Vonn was the sixth racer in Friday’s downhill race and had recorded the fastest time at the first checkpoint before the unbalanced jump. He raised his left hand and stick in the air in an attempt to regain his balance. As she tried to apply brakes, she spun and got stuck in the net.
Two other skiers also crashed before her: Austria’s Nina Ortlieb and Norway’s Marte Monsen.
Ortlieb crashed at the top in the same area as Vonn, and Monsen hit the net just before the finish area and had to be carried in a sled. The race was delayed after both of those accidents. But then two racers – Wills and Olympic champion Corinne Suter – completed their races.
Wills could barely make the hard left-handed final inning that stunned Monsen.
France’s Romain Miradoli, who finished his race in second place at the start, said visibility was a problem due to falling snow.
“You can’t see,” Miradoli said, “and it’s bumpy everywhere.”
Asked if it was dangerous, Miradoli said, “We couldn’t see properly.”
Vaughan faced many setbacks in his career. His worst performance came during a super-G at the 2013 World Championships in Schladming, Austria, which was also held in difficult conditions. After this, Vaughan had to be airlifted from the road and his right knee got torn. She returned the following season, was injured again and missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
The race began Friday in mild conditions in Crans-Montana, which is still reeling from the trauma of a devastating bar fire in the early hours of New Year’s Day that killed 40 and injured more than 100. A minute’s silence was observed before the race.
The end zone color and usual sponsor advertisements were removed. Instead, it featured white and black banners bearing the words “Our thoughts are with you” in French, German, Italian and English.
