American skiing legend Lindsey Vonn required surgery on a broken leg after a devastating crash ended her improbable Olympic comeback bid in the downhill.
AMERICAN skiing legend Lindsey Vonn’s improbable Olympic comeback ended in brutal fashion on Sunday. The 41-year-old crashed out of the downhill in Cortina d’Ampezzo, later requiring surgery on a fractured left leg.
Vonn, competing with a ruptured knee ligament sustained just weeks earlier, lost control 13 seconds into her run. She hit a gate on her first jump, twisted in the air, and crumpled into the snow, her cries of pain audible on course microphones.
Thousands of spectators fell into stunned silence as they watched on giant screens. Vonn was eventually stretchered off the slope and winched into a rescue helicopter to applause from the crowd.
The Ca’ Foncello hospital in Treviso confirmed she needed “surgery to stabilise a fracture of the left leg”. Her US teammate Breezy Johnson won the event, dedicating her first Olympic gold to Vonn.
“My heart goes out to her,” Johnson said. International Olympic Committee president Kirsty Coventry called Vonn an “incredible inspiration”.
Vonn had retired in 2019 but returned in 2024 after knee surgery. Her dream of a second Olympic title, 16 years after her Vancouver 2010 downhill gold, was derailed by a World Cup crash on January 30.
She admitted she had ruptured her ACL in that fall but insisted on competing. “I know what my chances were before the crash and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today,” she said last week.
The day featured happier scenes for Team USA in Milan. Figure skater Ilia Malinin produced a pulsating routine to secure the team gold, seeing off Japan’s Shun Sato with tennis great Novak Djokovic watching on.
Malinin’s performance helped the United States retain the title they won in Beijing. Japan took silver, while an emotional Italian team claimed bronze for the hosts.
On the second full day of competition, Czech snowboarder Zuzana Maderova won gold in the women’s parallel giant slalom. Defending champion Ester Ledecka crashed out in the quarter-finals, ending her bid for a historic third consecutive title.
Norwegian cross-country skier Johannes Klaebo won the skiathlon for his sixth career Olympic gold. France also claimed its first gold of the Games in the biathlon mixed 4x6km relay.
Away from the slopes, US President Donald Trump attacked US freestyle skier Hunter Hess. Hess had expressed “mixed emotions” about representing America due to political tensions.
Trump called Hess a “real loser” on Sunday. “If that’s the case, he shouldn’t have tried out for the Team, and it’s too bad he’s on it,” the president said.