U.S. ski star Lindsey Vonn is in 'stable condition' after crash in Olympic downhill

[mahatmakanejeeves]

2026 Milan Cortina Olympics

U.S. ski star Lindsey Vonn is in 'stable condition' after crash in Olympic downhill

Updated February 8, 2026 4:06 PM ET
Becky Sullivan


United States' Lindsey Vonn crashes into a gate during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026.
Jacquelyn Martin/AP

CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — Lindsey Vonn's comeback had been years in the making, and the goal had always been the 2026 Olympic Games in Cortina. This is the site of so many cherished memories for the superstar skier in her decorated career, from her first-ever World Cup podium finish in 2004, to the Super-G race 11 years later that made her the sport's then-winningest female skier of all time ... But the slope at Cortina — the famed Olimpia delle Tofane downhill course — can be cruel, and the memory made Sunday will be devastating, as Vonn's hopes of capping her comeback with an Olympic medal ended instead with a medical evacuation by helicopter off the slope.

Just 13 seconds into her downhill run, as she skied through the fourth gate of the course, Vonn hooked her right arm and shoulder around the gate, which swung her whole body to the right as she skied off a jump. Her body spun in the air then landed — hard — on the snow and tumbled end-over-end down the slope.

That Vonn competed in Sunday's race at all made her performance a comeback-within-a-comeback— first from retirement, and then from an eleventh-hour tear of her left anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, in a race just nine days ago. Her sheer determination and audacity to compete despite the ACL tear had turned Sunday's race into perhaps the most anticipated event of the Olympic Games.

Her crash was all the more devastating because of it. At the finish line in Cortina, at least a thousand faces in the grandstand turned in unison from anticipation to anguish, their cheers silenced, as the big screen broadcast her tumble. On television, announcers in every language cried out upon watching it unfold.

{snip}

[snowybirdie]

1. I wish her well

But I always loved the spectacle of young athletes competing with the world. However, as money and corporate interest become more involved, many of the athletes stay and stay and are now professionals. Lindsey is a prime example. At 42, she was amazing, but she had the backing and money to see her efforts as a full time profession. What happened to young, fresh people coming into the sport as the others step aside and cheer them on? Again, I pray she will be healed very soon. And I hope she realizes time to cheer the younger champions as they step into the spotlight.

[LisaM]

2. I tend to agree with you

Introducing pro athletes into the Olympics turned it away from being people representing the country into the cult of personality we all seem determined to worship.

The worst example was the "Dream Team" of 1992. It was just comprised of people Michael Jordan wanted to play with (he specifically excluded every member of the Pistons, who had recently won back to back championships) and the other countries didn't have a chance.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

3. This message was posted on Facebook

Her ACL had nothing to do with this injury

Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.
I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.
Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.
While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.
And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try.
I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.
I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying.
I believe in you, just as you believed in me.
❤️LV