Vonn Left Broken: US Skiing Legend Undergoes Surgery After Horror Crash At Milano-Cortina Games

Last Updated:February 09, 2026, 08:58 IST

Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic comeback ended in heartbreak at Cortina d’Ampezzo after a crash led to surgery for a left leg fracture. The US skiing legend is in stable condition now.

Lindsey Vonn’s improbable Olympic comeback ended in heartbreak on Sunday, as the US skiing legend required surgery after a terrifying crash in the Winter Games downhill at Cortina d’Ampezzo.

At 41, skiing on a rebuilt right knee and a badly compromised left one, Vonn was chasing a final, defiant shot at Olympic glory. Instead, her run was over almost as soon as it began.

Just 13 seconds after leaving the start house, she clipped a gate on the first jump, lost control mid-air and cartwheeled violently down the slope.

Her screams were picked up by course microphones as medical staff rushed in. Far below, thousands of spectators watched in stunned silence on giant screens.

Vonn was treated for long, anguished minutes before being strapped to a gurney and winched into a rescue helicopter — the second time in nine days she had been airlifted off a course.

The crowd broke into applause as she was flown away, possibly for the final time in her storied career.

Update on Vonn’s condition

Vonn was first taken to a clinic in Cortina before being transferred to Ca’ Foncello hospital in Treviso, around two hours south. By Sunday evening, the hospital confirmed she had undergone “surgery to stabilise a fracture of the left leg."

The U.S. Ski Team said she was “in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians."

“She’ll be OK, but it’s going to be a bit of a process," said Anouk Patty, chief of sport for U.S. Ski and Snowboard.

“This sport’s brutal and people need to remember when they’re watching (that) these athletes are throwing themselves down a mountain and going really, really fast."

Vonn’s triumphant comeback so far

Just two weeks earlier, Vonn appeared capable of completing one of the most remarkable comebacks in Olympic history. Retired since 2019, she returned in 2024 after undergoing surgery to insert a titanium implant in her right knee to manage persistent pain.

Her Olympic plans were rocked on January 30 when she crashed in a World Cup race at Crans Montana. Upon arriving in Italy, Vonn admitted she had ruptured her ACL but remained determined.

“I know what my chances were before the crash and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today," she said.

Questions will now follow about whether she should have raced at all. But ultimately, it was Vonn’s call.

(with multiple agencies’ inputs)

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