One of the absolute biggest talking points surrounding the Winter Olympics so far has been 41-year-old Lindsey Vonn’s decision to compete in the downhill race on Sunday despite suffering an ACL injury just over a week before the Olympic competition in Crans-Montana.
When Vonn took off on Sunday, it didn’t take long for the convoy to take another turn. In the first sharp right-hand bend on the track – after just 13 seconds of driving – she fell heavily and ended up lying in the snow.
After being treated by staff on the hill, she was transported to the hospital by helicopter. News broke on Sunday evening that the American alpine star underwent surgery for a broken leg.
Write on Monday Vonn’s Norwegian coach Aksel Lund Svindal wrote in a post on Instagram that the star asked those around her to send a shout out to his compatriot Breezy Johnson, who was leading the race at the time of the accident.
“Congratulate Breezy and tell her she did a good job,” Vonn reportedly said before taking off in the helicopter.
Johnson maintained the lead and won Olympic gold in the downhill.
“Your teammate was in charge and that was the message the US national team coaches should remember before being transported to the hospital. True character is shown in the difficult moments,” Svindal wrote in his Instagram post addressed to Vonn.
Vonn stopped skiing after the World Cup in Åre 2019 due to his injury problems.
Five years later, she had titanium knee prosthesis surgery in her right knee and announced in November 2024 that she would compete again in the Alpine World Cup. In December of the same year she competed in the Super-G competition at the World Cup in St. Moritz and took 14th place.
On December 12, 2025, she was back on top of the World Cup podium with victory in the downhill race in Saint Moritz.
As a 41-year-old, she celebrated an Olympic comeback, but it fell far short of her expectations.
In the final practice before the Olympic steeplechase, she set the third-best time and in the SVT broadcast before the competition, expert Pernilla Wiberg predicted that Vonn would achieve a podium finish. But for Vonn it was the worst case scenario because she fell and injured herself again.
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