Olympian downhill skier Lindsey Vonn updated fans after a devastating crash during the women’s downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympics in an accident that ultimately ended her Olympic comeback and her career.
During her run on the Olimpia delle Tofane course, Vonn’s arm caught the fourth gate, violently spinning her before slamming her into the hard, snow-covered surface. She tumbled end over end before coming to a stop and was later strapped to a stretcher and airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital.
Vonn was treated on the hill for roughly 13 minutes following Sunday’s crash before being flown to a local hospital. After an initial evaluation, she was transferred to Ca’ Foncello Hospital in Treviso, about two hours away, where she underwent surgery later that day and remained in stable condition.
In a personal message to fans, Vonn reflected on the moment her Olympic journey ended:
“Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tale, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it…”
The crash came just days after another major setback. In a separate fall shortly before the Milano Cortina Games, Vonn injured her left knee, sustaining bone bruising and meniscus damage. On February 3, she confirmed she had ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) but announced she would still compete, choosing to race despite the injury sustained only a week earlier.
She addressed the mechanics of the latest crash directly in her post:
“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…”
According to ESPN, Sunday’s crash was not related to Vonn’s knee injury but instead stemmed from the aggressive racing line she took early in her run.
Skiing with a torn ACL is not unheard of in elite competition, and Vonn said her knee felt stable and strong heading into the race. She underwent intensive rehabilitation between the Crans-Montana crash and the Olympics, including pool workouts and plyometrics, and completed two training runs without issue, posting the third-fastest time in the second.
Late Sunday, hospital officials confirmed Vonn had undergone surgery on her left leg, while the U.S. Ski Team said she was in stable condition. Members of her family, including a brother and two sisters, were with her as she received treatment in Treviso following the helicopter evacuation.
Reflecting on what it meant simply to compete, Vonn wrote:
“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…”
Vonn holds the record for most World Cup victories in Cortina, with 12, and returned to the circuit last season after nearly six years of retirement following a partial titanium replacement surgery in her right knee. She won two downhill races this season and finished on the podium in seven of the eight World Cup races she completed, placing fourth in the remaining event.
On December 12, 2025, Vonn became the oldest downhill World Cup winner at age 41 in St. Moritz, claiming her 83rd career victory—her first since 2018. Days later, on December 23, she officially qualified for the 2026 Winter Olympics, marking her fifth and final Olympic appearance.
She reflected on the sport—and life—beyond the results:
“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 also the beauty of life; we can try…”
Vonn has been skiing for nearly 38 years, beginning at age three in Minnesota. She learned the sport at Buck Hill in Burnsville and through family road trips that included 16-hour drives from Minnesota to Vail, Colorado.
On Monday, Vonn’s father, Alan Kildow, told The Associated Press that his daughter would not race again and would not return to the Olympics.
Speaking by phone, Kildow was definitive:
“She’s 41 years old, and this is the end of her career. There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”
Vonn is among the greatest skiers of all time, a three-time Olympic medalist whose 84 World Cup victories trail only Mikaela Shiffrin and Ingemar Stenmark.
Closing her message to fans, Vonn left them with a final piece of hard-earned wisdom:
“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.”
You can view her full post below:
Readers across social media flooded Vonn with messages of support and well-wishes as news of her crash spread:
@whitney/Instagram
@reesewitherspoon/Instagram
@sophiafloersch/Instagram
@lauriehernandez/Instagram
@gymhooky/Instagram
@_katielo/Instagram
@purplehayes73/Instagram
@annastasia.s/Instagram
@vgolden423/Instagram
@usrowing/Instagram
@liensberger.katharina/Instagram
@laperrelli/Instagram
Cortina has always held special significance for Vonn. She earned her first World Cup podium there in 2004 with a bronze medal in the downhill, and 12 of her 84 World Cup victories came on the same slopes.
Vonn explained why the location made the comeback and the risk feel worth it:
“I don't think I would have tried this comeback if the Olympics weren't in Corina. If it had been anywhere else, I would probably say it's not worth it.”
Returning to the Olympics on a course so deeply tied to her legacy felt intentional, and if these were to be her final races, Cortina—where her story began and so much of it was written—was the place she wanted them to end.
