American ski legend Lindsey Vonn was airlifted to hospital after crashing early in the women’s downhill at the Winter Olympics on the Olimpia delle Tofane piste, bringing a dramatic and painful end to her final Games appearance.
Vonn lost control moments into her run after passing the third gate, twisting and crashing heavily on the steep Italian course. The race was halted for around 30 minutes as medical staff treated the 41-year-old before she was flown off the mountain by helicopter.
The incident cast a shadow over the event, which was won by Vonn’s teammate Breezy Johnson, who watched the crash from the leader’s seat and later took gold in a time of 1min 36.10sec. Italy’s Sofia Goggia claimed bronze, while Germany’s Emma Aichner won silver.
As the helicopter passed overhead, spectators applauded in support of Vonn, whose return to Olympic competition came despite rupturing the ACL in her left knee just a week earlier. It was her fifth and final Olympics, and she became the first athlete in her forties to start an Olympic downhill race.
The mood on the mountain shifted after the crash, with two further accidents involving Austria’s Nina Ortleib and Andorra’s Cande Moreno, underlining the danger of the course.
International Ski Federation president Johan Eliasch praised Vonn’s impact on the sport, calling her run «the talk of the Games,» while former Olympic champion Tina Maze said the risk had been high but reflected Vonn’s determination to compete at the highest level until the very end.
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