American skier Lindsey Vonn, aged 41, endured a severe crash in the women's downhill at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics, halting the event and necessitating a helicopter evacuation. She was racing despite prior injuries to both knees and aiming to add to her Olympic legacy. Fellow American Breezy Johnson claimed the gold medal in the race.
The 2026 Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics were overshadowed by Lindsey Vonn's accident on the Olympia delle Tofana course in Cortina d'Ampezzo. The American skier, returning to competition after nearly six years away, started her downhill run with bib number 13. Just 13 seconds in, she struck a gate with her right shoulder, her skis crossed, and she tumbled down the slope, ending up on her back and crying out in pain.
Medical staff treated her on-site for several minutes, immobilizing her on a stretcher before airlifting her by helicopter. This marked her second aerial evacuation in nine days, following a prior crash in Crans Montana, Switzerland, where she tore her left knee's anterior cruciate ligament, damaged her meniscus, and suffered a bone bruise. Vonn was already skiing with a titanium prosthesis in her right knee from previous surgeries.
The race paused for about 20 minutes. She was initially taken to a local clinic and then moved to Ca’ Foncello Hospital in Treviso, where she underwent surgery to stabilize a fracture in her left leg. Her team stated she was in stable condition, cared for by American and Italian doctors.
Anouk Patty, head of sport for U.S. Ski and Snowboard, remarked: “She'll be okay, but it's going to be a process. This sport is brutal and people need to remember when they're watching that these athletes are launching themselves down the mountain and going really, really fast.”
Breezy Johnson, the gold medal winner, showed sympathy: “I can't imagine the pain she's going through and it's not the physical pain, we can deal with physical pain, but the emotional pain is another thing.”
Reactions poured in from Vonn's family, who watched silently from the stands alongside celebrities like Snoop Dogg, and social media posts from Mikaela Shiffrin. Johan Eliasch, president of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, praised her impact on the sport, while IOC President Kirsty Coventry called her “an incredible inspiration.” The crash drew comparisons to historic incidents, such as Hermann Maier's in Nagano 1998.
