The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team issued an update Sunday morning on Lindsey Vonn, who hours earlier had been in a frightening crash that saw her airlifted off the mountain in the women’s downhill event.
While few details have been released on her injury, the team said she was in “stable condition.”
“Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians,” their statement read.
Vonn crashed seconds into her race early Sunday morning (CT) as she competed in the women’s downhill event with a torn ACL. It all unfolded before she hit the first marker on the famed Tofane course.
Vonn appeared motionless on the course as the crowd in Cortina d’Ampezzo audibly gasped, then fell silent. Announcers called it “nasty” and said it was “hard to watch.”
She was eventually airlifted off the mountain as the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team said she would be “evaluated by medical staff.”
Vonn’s family stood in horror as they watched the legendary skier’s Olympic competition come to a heartbreaking halt.
“That definitely was the last thing that we wanted to see,” Vonn’s sister Karin Kildow told NBC’s Cara Banks moments after the crash. “It happened quick. When that happens you’re just like immediately hoping she’s OK, and it was scary. When you start to see the stretchers being put out, it’s not a good sign.”
Kildow said the family does not know what injuries Vonn suffered in the crash or how severe they could be.
“She just dared greatly and she put it all out there so it’s really hard to see, but we just really hope she’s OK,” Kildow said.
The family planned to stay at the mountain as they awaited word of where Vonn would be taken.
“I don’t really know what happens from here obviously she was airlifted out so I think we’ll probably just wait… we’ll meet her at whatever hospital she’s at,” she said.
Vonn was 13th in the lineup, just a few skiers behind U.S. teammate Breezy Johnson, who at the time of the crash sat in first place with a 1:36.10 finish. Johnson went on to win gold in the event, becoming the only American woman besides Vonn to do so and scoring Team USA’s first medal of the Winter Olympics.
“It’s devastating, mostly for Lindsey,” Johnson said after her win. “I’ve been there on this slope and it’s really hard and I feel for her because I know how much it hurts.”
Vonn was injured when she lost control and ended up tangled in the safety nets during a World Cup race last week. She said she completely ruptured her ACL in the crash and had bone bruising “plus meniscal damage” in her left leg.
She announced her decision to compete despite her injury just five days ago.
Vonn’s appearance at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games comes years after she retired in February 2019 as the most decorated female alpine skier in history.
“She always goes 110%. There’s never anything less,” Kildow said Sunday.
Others quickly reacted to the heartbreaking end to what was an inspiring journey to Italy.
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