Three-time medalist skier who was competing with a ruptured ACL falls just 13 seconds into her run at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy
Lindsey Vonn's Olympics ended Sunday after the skier — who was competing with a ruptured ACL following a January 30 crash on the slopes — fell 13 seconds into her run in the women's downhill event.
Vonn was treated on the track for roughly 15 minutes and then airlifted on a stretcher off the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. The 41-year-old Vonn, a three-time Olympic medalist who had a “completely ruptured” left ACL, meniscus damage, and bone bruising from last week's crash but still opted to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics, was attempting to become the oldest-ever medalist in the event.
“That definitely was the last thing we wanted to see. It happened quick, so when that happens, you're just like immediately hoping she's okay,” Vonn's sister Karin Kildow said during the NBC broadcast.
“It was scary because when you start to see the stretchers being put out, it's not a good sign but, we were just saying – like the man in the arena – she just dared greatly and she put it all out there, so it's really hard to see, but we just really hope she's okay.”
The event was ultimately won by Vonn's US teammate Breezy Johnson, who won her first-ever gold medal in the event, as well as the US' first gold at the 2026 Olympics. Johnson said after the event that she was told Vonn was cheering for her from the helicopter on the way to an Austrian hospital.
“Her coach said she was cheering for me in the helicopter, so I hope for the best for her,” Johnson told reporters (via People). “I hope that it's not too bad. My heart aches for her. It's such a brutal sport sometimes… It can hurt you so badly but you keep coming back for more.”
