Lindsey Vonn undergoes surgery on broken leg as Olympic dream ends in heartbreak

Lindsey Vonn has undergone surgery on her broken left leg after her Olympic comeback ended with her being airlifted to hospital following a crash in the women’s downhill in Cortina.

The American had damaged her ACL when falling in a World Cup race at Crans-Montana just over a week ago but still lined up in Sunday’s event at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre.

Racing as the 13th skier, Vonn clipped a gate just seconds into her run and somersaulted off the course, remaining on the ground for a prolonged period before a helicopter whisked her to hospital.

In an update on X, the US Ski and Snowboard Team said: “Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians.”

Vonn was airlifted to a clinic in Cortina and has since been transferred to a larger hospital in Treviso.

In a statement, quoted on olympics.com on Sunday evening, Ca’ Foncello Hospital confirmed the 41-year-old “underwent orthopedic surgery to stabilise a fracture in her left leg”.

The Cortina crowd had raised a huge cheer as Vonn pushed out of the gate but fell almost silent as she crashed out, before again applauding her off the mountain as the helicopter passed overhead.

Vonn’s team-mate and reigning world champion Breezy Johnson took the title, becoming the first American woman to win the event since Vonn’s triumph in Vancouver in 2010.

Johnson said: “The work that we put in, the careers, my heart aches for her. It’s a tough road, and it’s a tough sport.

“That’s the beauty and the madness of it, that it can hurt you so badly, but you keep coming back for more.

“I don’t have anything except that her coach said she was cheering for me in the helicopter. I hope for the best for her. I hope that it’s not too bad. My heart aches for her. It’s such a brutal sport sometimes.”

Of following Vonn as an American champion, Johnson added: “It’s crazy, because downhill is, in my opinion, the premier event of Alpine skiing, and to win a gold medal in it as an American is very surreal.

“Lindsey has accomplished so much, and will always live in a different echelon than I do, but to have your name alongside her is really something special.”

Vonn initially retired from the sport in 2019 due to injury but, after undergoing a partial knee replacement in April 2024, she returned to competition in December that year and had won two World Cup events this season before her fall in Switzerland.

She had successfully completed two practice runs on the course on Friday and Saturday, wearing a brace on her injured knee, and her coach Aksel Lund Svindal felt she was in “good enough” condition to challenge for a medal.

Another team-mate, fourth-placed Jacqueline Wiles, said: “Watching Lindsey go down from the start was pretty awful.

“We have such a sisterhood. We travel with each other on the road. We’re a family. To watch someone that you care about so much, it sucks.

“My heart broke for her in that moment, but that is the inherent risk of the sport.”

The fourth member of the US team, Isabella Wright added: “You don’t want that for anyone and you especially don’t want it for your team-mate and for Lindsey.

“I always say this, ‘if anyone can do it, it’s Lindsey’. Whatever it is, or whatever the situation, she’s very strong. We’re going to support her the best we can.”