Lindsey Vonn ‘stable’ after horror crash in Winter Olympics downhill on return from ACL rupture

Vonn ruptured her ACL nine days before the event but decided to still compete in Cortina d’Ampezzo, with the race won by her teammate, reigning world champion Breezy Johnson

American skiing legend Lindsey Vonn is “stable” after crashing hard in the Winter Olympics downhill event, nine days after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL).

The 41-year-old was the 13th of 36 racers to take to the Olympia delle Tofane course in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where she has won a record 12 World Cups.

But she crashed hard in the top section of the course at approximately 60mph after overshooting a turn and catching her shoulder on the fourth gate, having already picked up significant speed. That set her off balance, with her injured left leg – which has no functioning ACL – giving way.

Medics attended to her shortly after and she was put on a stretcher and airlifted to hospital while the competition was paused. It eventually resumed around 20 minutes later.

US Ski & Snowboard initially said she “will be evaluated by medical staff” but have since provided a more significant update on her condition.

“Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians,” the team wrote.

Teammate and reigning downhill world champion Breezy Johnson, who was the sixth racer to set off, won gold with a stunning time of 1.36:10. The 30-year-old, who is a close friend of Vonn’s, was in tears throughout the second half of the race.

Talented German 22-year-old Emma Aicher, a downhill World Cup winner this season, took silver, just four-hundredths of a second off the American’s time. Home hope Sofia Goggia – who was the second athlete on the course after Vonn’s horrible crash – won bronze, 0.59 seconds behind Johnson.

Johnson, who missed the 2022 Olympics with an ACL tear sustained a month before, was banned for 14 months in 2023 after accruing three doping-test whereabouts failures in 12 months.

Johnson said afterwards: “My heart aches for [Vonn]. It’s a tough road and it’s a tough sport. That’s the beauty and the madness of it, that it can hurt you so badly but you keep coming back for more.”

Lindsey Vonn of the United States is helicoptered off after crashing (Marco Trovati/AP) (AP)

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is a band of tissue in the knee which is crucial for maintaining strength and stability. It connects the thigh bone (femur) to the shin bone (tibia), providing rotational stability.

An ACL injury is common in sports where athletes need to pivot, and are often immediately obvious from a ‘popping’ sensation, causing swelling and pain, and destabilising the knee. ACL tears often require reconstructive surgery and necessitate a lengthy recovery time.

BBC Sport commentator and former alpine skier Chemmy Alcott said later that a member of Vonn’s team said she had been airlifted to hospital in Cortina, but would likely need to be flown onwards to Innsbruck for specialised treatment.

Alcott, who raced alongside Vonn and was audibly emotional, said: “I feel guilty that I am this emotional. I just never believed it would end in a clump at the side of the piece, not moving. What we saw that the top of the piece is really hard for a fit athlete; she just had her right knee. It is brutal, think about her family, her team and herself.

“We have to be realistic, the risk was really high, the risk she takes when she falls will double that, her body will not be able to take that. There is clapping and there is hope that she would be okay, but they have put up some background music because it is uncomfortable.”

Vonn’s teammate Breezy Johnson set the quickest time of the early starters and would not be beaten (AFP via Getty Images)

Double Olympic champion Tina Maze, speaking on Eurosport and TNT Sports coverage, said: “We all know the difficulties Lindsey was going through in the last days, and I think in the end she risked too much.

“This kind of crash can happen, of course, if you are not healthy; the consequences are even worse, but Lindsey wanted to do this no matter what. It's really tough for everyone here to see this, especially for her family, teammates and everyone working with her. It's just terrible. A tough day.”

Austria’s Nina Ortlieb also crashed but was able to get up unassisted, but Andorra’s Cande Moreno – who had previously undergone ACL surgery – went down on the quickest part of the course, hitting her knee hard, and was also airlifted to hospital.

Vonn trained in all the practice sessions in Cortina, setting the third-quickest time in Saturday’s run.

She is the Vancouver 2010 Olympic champion in the discipline and had been in superb form this World Cup season, winning two races and finishing on the podium seven times, before rupturing her ACL in Crans-Montana just nine days before the Olympic event.