Lindsey Vonn crashes early in Olympic downhill as American teammate takes gold medal
Jacquelyn Martin/AP photo
An absolutely perfect day in Cortina ended in the worst way possible for Lindsey Vonn.
The 41-year-old superstar — hoping to cap her storied career with an improbable Olympic downhill start nine days after tearing the ACL in her left knee — lost control on the opening traverse of the Olympia delle Tofane course on Sunday morning in Italy.
Vonn cut the line tight going around a right turn and her right pole appeared to catch the fourth gate, sending the airborne skier sideways. She was heard screaming out after the crash and was quickly surrounded by medical personnel before being flown away in a helicopter. The stadium at the finish line was deathly quiet for minutes as the race was put on hold for around 10 minutes.
Fellow American, Breezy Johnson — the defending downhill and team combined world champion — won the gold medal. The Jackson Hole, Wyoming native posted a time of 1 minute, 36.10 seconds, 0.04 ahead of German Emma Aicher as Italian Sofia Goggia picked up the bronze.
“I felt like it was solid,” Johnson said of her run. “I thought that there were definitely some places that weren’t the best, but I hope that it would be enough. I just tried to keep it rolling. I knew it was fast, and some of the places where I made mistakes, I was like ‘did I just make a mistake or did I make a mistake because I was going fast.'”
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Johnson was set to compete in Beijing in 2022, but tore her right knee while training in Cortina, Italy. She was also hit with a 14-month ban under the USADA’s anti-doping policy in 2023.
“I don’t think my journey (to this gold medal) is something that many people are envious of, and it’s been a tough road,” Johnson continued. “But sometimes you just have to keep going because that’s the only option and you know if you’re going through hell you keep walking because you don’t want to just sit around in hell and sometimes when you keep going, maybe you’ll make it back to the top.”
Vonn finished 11th in the first downhill training run on Friday and completed the second one on Saturday as well.
The U.S. Ski Team’s only comment so far on Vonn is that she “fell in the Olympic downhill and will be evaluated by medical staff,” according to The Associated Press.
American teammate Jacqueline Wiles posted the fastest final split and tied for fourth place, just 0.27 seconds off the podium.
“I saw Breezy have an incredible run and I was really pumped for her. It was cool to watch. Then watching Lindsey go down from the start was pretty awful. To watch that happen to someone whom you really care about, my heart just broke for her,” Wiles said. “I still had a job to do, and I’m proud of the way I skied. But it’s hard being in fourth after everything I have been through in my career. At my age, I don’t have many chances left, so yeah, it hurts.”
