Lindsey Vonn Olympic comeback : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2365x1577+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb4%2Ffb%2Fde2226984dcfb90ce39c9b12aad3%2Fap26039408898354.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2365x1577+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fb4%2Ffb%2Fde2226984dcfb90ce39c9b12aad3%2Fap26039408898354.jpg" class="img" alt="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." fetchpriority="high"/> United States' Lindsey Vonn crashes right into a gate throughout an alpine ski ladies's downhill race, on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. /AP cover caption

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/AP CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy — American alpine snowboarding famous person Lindsey Vonn crashed badly simply 13 seconds into right now's ladies's downhill race, one of the eagerly anticipated occasions of the 2026 Winter Olympics. This ends her dream of getting back from retirement to win one other Olympic medal.

Vonn had efficiently accomplished two coaching runs within the days main as much as the race. However on Sunday, she crashed arduous coming off the primary bounce of the course and needed to be airlifted by helicopter off the mountain.

The crash was initiated as Vonn handed by the fourth gate of the race. Her proper arm caught the gate and despatched her off the bounce unbalanced, sending her into the air spinning to her proper.

She landed arduous on the snow on her proper facet, her skis perpendicular to the slope, and tumbled. The shocked grandstand fell into silence as a medical crew tended to her for greater than 10 minutes.

Whether or not Vonn is injured or how badly just isn't but identified at the moment.

The 41-year-old Workforce USA star, who had already had a embellished profession when she retired in 2019, was making an attempt to stage a comeback inside a comeback: After launching out of retirement straight into the stratosphere of the World Cup downhill standings, she wished to cap all of it off with an Olympic medal barely per week after tearing her ACL.

The downhill race started at 11:30 a.m. native time on the Olimpia delle Tofane ski course in Cortina, a basic and beloved cease on the World Cup circuit.

Cortina has performed host to a number of vital moments of Vonn's profession, together with her first ever World Cup podium, and the victory that made her the winningest feminine skier in World Cup historical past (a title that now belongs to fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin).

That Cortina is internet hosting the ladies's alpine occasions on the 2026 Olympics was a key motivator for Vonn, she informed reporters final 12 months. "If it had been anyplace else, I might most likely say it isn't price it," she mentioned in October. "However for me there's one thing particular about Cortina that all the time pulls me again, and it is pulled me again one final time."

Vonn's comeback started with a partial knee substitute in 2024 that put in a titanium implant in her proper knee. Earlier than her ACL tear late final month at a race in Switzerland, Vonn's efficiency this season had left no room for debate. She was atop the FIS leaderboard with two World Cup wins, bringing her profession complete to 84, and 5 different podium finishes.

Workforce USA skier Breezy Johnson is one other medal contender. The 30-year-old is making her return to the Olympics after badly injuring her knee in a sequence of crashes shortly earlier than the 2022 Winter Video games in Beijing.

Two different American skiers — Jackie Wiles and Bella Wright — are additionally competing. The Tofane course has been beset by fog and lightweight snow in current days, resulting in delays and cancellations of coaching runs.