American skier Lindsey Vonn crashed seconds into her downhill Olympic race on Sunday after she decided to race despite rupturing her left ACL in a prior crash during a World Cup event in the Swiss Alps a week ago.
Vonn, who came out of retirement to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics, earlier confirmed that she had fully ruptured her ACL in the crash ahead of the Games, but said she felt confident she could still complete the race with the help of a knee brace.
Seconds into the race, Vonn appeared to clip a flag marking the side of the course, fly sideways in the air and hit her head on the ground. She was responsive but did not immediately get up. Medical personnel put her on a stretcher and airlifted her from the course. The spectators were silent after the crash.
Thomas Pronske from Austin, Texas, who was watching the event on the sidelines, told CBS News after the accident: “I hope she’s OK. It did not look good. We saw her take quite a bit of a tumble and I’m praying and wishing for the best for her… She was a very big reason why I was here. It’s just remarkable the comeback story of her overcoming adversity … I’ve torn my ACL myself, I know it’s a painful injury… and again I hope she’s ok.”
Before her retirement in 2019, Vonn had competed with a torn lateral collateral ligament, three tibia fractures and a bone bruise, and still won a bronze medal. She now has one titanium knee, though that’s not the joint that’s currently injured.
“Just getting to these Olympics has been a journey, and one that some did not believe in from the start,” Vonn said in a social media post late Saturday. “I retired for 6 years, and because of a partial knee replacement, I had the chance to compete one more time. But why? Everyone seems to be asking me that question. But I think the answer is simple… I just love ski racing.
“I am not unsure about life outside of sport. I am not searching for meaning or for attention or money. I know exactly who I am and I know exactly what I am made of,” she said.
Vonn had clocked the third-fastest time in a training run on Saturday, ahead of the race — behind her teammate Breezy Johnson — though the run was called off due to bad weather before all the racers had participated.
“I think it’s a good run,” Vonn’s coach, Aksel Lund Svindal, said. “Tomorrow is the race and it’s the Olympics and the girls will push harder. So everyone will probably go faster, meaning Lindsey would also need to go faster. But it’s a solid run, but I think she has one more gear.”
Johnson raced ahead of Vonn and completed the run in just over 1:36.