Ski Star Lindsey Vonn Crashes, Airlifted From Downhill Course

At the final World Cup downhill before the upcoming Winter Olympics, American ski racing superstar Lindsey Vonn crashed and skidded into the safety netting, later being airlifted off the course.

The fall happened after she cruised over a jump on the course, losing control. She stayed down for a few moments as medical staff helped her.

Vonn stood, but carefully. She clicked into her skis and reached the finish line, stopping and checking her knee multiple times on the way down. Then, she limped to a medical tent before catching a helicopter.

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Challenging Conditions

Vonn wasn’t the only skier to hit the snow in Crans-Montana, Switzerland. Amid low visibility, three of the first six racers crashed. Soon after Vonn fell, race officials cancelled the competition.

"You can't see," Romane Miradoli, a French skier, said, according to NBC News. "And it's bumpy everywhere."

“We just couldn’t see well,”  Miradoli added when asked if the slopes were dangerous.

According to FIS, a race director, Peter Gerdol, said the skiers’ mistakes were signs “that it was a high-risk situation.”

“We know that our sport is a risky sport, but the feeling was too much risk,” he continued. “That’s why the Jury decided to stop the race.”

Future in Question?

In a statement posted on social media, the U.S. Ski Team said Vonn was “being evaluated.”

Afterwards, Vonn took to her own social media, sharing an update.

"I crashed today in the Downhill race in Switzerland and injured my left knee. I am discussing the situation with my doctors and team and will continue to undergo further exams.

This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics… but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback.

My Olympic dream is not over. Thank you for all of the love and support. I will give more information when I have it.

Thank you to all the medical staff who helped me today. I am grateful for all the incredible help I received," she wrote.

Vonn’s fall comes amid an outstanding, and widely covered, comeback story. Last winter, she exited retirement for the first time since 2019, skiing with a surgically repaired right knee. That winter, she skied well, capping off her campaign with a second-place finish in the super-G at Sun Valley, Idaho.

But it was this season that Vonn, now 41, who has already won three Olympic medals, truly came into her own during her second chapter. She was unstoppable, having landed on the podium seven times. Her worst finish was a fourth place, and as the Olympics approached, she appeared to be a medal favorite. 

The skier is, as of now, set to compete in the Olympic downhill on February 8. She also had plans to ski in the super-G and the combined event.