Lindsey Vonn crash: American skiing icon airlifted away after terrifying fall in Olympics women's downhill
Source: CBS News
Lindsey Vonn crash: American skiing icon airlifted away after terrifying fall in Olympics women's downhill
By Matt Norlander
48 mins ago * 2 min read
The worst-case scenario for Olympian Lindsey Vonn came just seconds into the women's downhill final in Cortina, Italy, on Sunday afternoon.
Vonn's body struck a gate as she made her first big jump less than 13 seconds into her run, altering her momentum and direction, prompting a scary crash as she flung sideways and bombed out.
The race was on hold for more than 20 minutes as Vonn was tended to on the course. The scene at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre was eerily quiet, as thousands at the bottom of the mountain, including Vonn's family, were left stunned and largely speechless. The worldwide feed initially caught audio of Vonn's brutal cries from pain after her horrifying spill. Downhill skiing is the fastest and most dangerous alpine event; the Olympia delle Tofane course routinely saw Sunday's racers eclipse 75 miles per hour as they hurled themselves down one the world-renowned venue.
Vonn was put on a stretcher and had to be airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital.
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Read more: https://www.cbssports.com/olympics/news/lindsey-vonn-crash-american-skiing-icon-airlifted-away-after-terrifying-fall-in-olympics-womens-downhill/
Hat tip, CBS Radio News at 8:00 a.m. on WTOP
I suspect there's a tacit rule in effect at DU that Olympic results not be posted before NBC has had a chance to package them for consumption in the US, but I believe this transcends any such rule.
= new reply since forum marked as read
... but she couldn't accept it until today. Lindsey has had an illustrious career ... but it's time to hang up her spurs.
She'll do well as a TV commentator, and maybe a celebrity coach/instructor. There are other careers out there. Poor Lindsey.
Although I skiied since I was a toddler, I never had the bravery for racing.
I screwed up my knees a few times, but I was always proud that I never had to go down in a toboggan. I quit before that became more likely. I miss it, and live vicariously through those who still ski.
Just look at Shaun White ... and of course many others, but he's one of the best known.
Lindsey will do well, but she has to accept that competitive skiing is over for her.
Vonn, 41, is competing in her fifth Winter Olympics. Millo Moravski / Getty Images
By The Athletic Staff
Feb. 8, 2026 4:00 am EST
Lindsey Vonn has spent two decades proving the fastest line in downhill skiing is usually the one that looks least survivable on replay. Now, at 41, she is trying to do one of the most audacious things an athlete can do: win with a torn left ACL that has become its own storyline.
How to watch Lindsey Vonn at the Winter Olympics
Venue: Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre — Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy
Date: Feb. 8-12
TV: NBC, USA Network
Streaming: Peacock, NBCOlympics.com
Be sure to check out The Athletic’s Olympic schedule interactive page and Games Briefing, a daily Olympics newsletter.
The timeline is critical. Downhill is Vonn’s signature, the purest expression of her speed game, and it’s a single-run medal race on Cortina’s Olympia delle Tofane track. No series. No margin. You get one shot, and the mountain does not care how famous you are or how many times you have rebuilt the rest of the machine to keep doing this.
Vonn doesn’t need validation. The Minnesota native already owns the 2010 Olympic downhill gold, three Olympic medals overall and 84 World Cup wins. This is about whether experience, pain tolerance and a practiced willingness to absorb risk can still get her down a course that behaves like an icy “vertical hockey rink” at 70 to 80 mph.
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