She failed to win this last Olympic challenge. American skier Lindsey Vonn, who lined up at the start at the age of 41 despite a serious knee injury, fell heavily during the downhill of the 2026 Olympics on Sunday. She had surgery for a broken left leg.
Published on: 02/08/2026 - 12:29 Modified on: 02/08/2026 - 20:28
American alpine ski star Lindsey Vonn, who started with a knee without ligaments, fell heavily during the Olympic downhill on Sunday February 8 in Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The "Speed Queen", Olympic champion in 2010, fell after only 12 seconds of racing, unbalanced while passing through a gate, and fell heavily to the ground. She remained lying there, grimacing, for many minutes while she was treated by medical teams.
The race organized on the Olimpia delle Tofane, one of the most demanding tracks on the women's circuit, was interrupted to allow emergency services to intervene. The American skier, placed on a stretcher, was airlifted after 15 minutes. The audience gathered at the arrival and who were following the scene on a giant screen then applauded for a long time.
The American was operated on for a fracture of her left leg, announced the Treviso hospital where the surgery took place.
"In the afternoon, (Lindsey Vonn) underwent orthopedic surgery to consolidate a fracture of her left leg," explained the Ca' Foncello hospital in Treviso in a statement carried by Italian media.
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At 41 years and 113 days old, the American star was attempting a crazy bet: to become Olympic downhill champion again, 16 years after her title in Vancouver, and after having made a spectacular comeback last winter, after six years of retirement. This challenge became even more insane after another serious injury suffered during the descent from Crans-Montana, one week before the 2026 Olympics.
Despite a very damaged left knee, with a total rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament, she had nevertheless confirmed her participation in her fifth Games, and had carried out promising training sessions at the Olimpia delle Tofane, notably that of Saturday, finishing in third place.
Bib 13, Lindsey Vonn set off on Sunday at 11:59 a.m., under radiant sunshine, with the aim of writing one of the most beautiful legends of the Olympics. Everything was in place. But the dream only lasted... 13 seconds.
The coronation of Breezy Johnson
The title of Olympic champion went to another American, Breezy Johnson, 30 years old and reigning world champion. She has never won a race in the World Cup, but more than compensates in the one-day races with this double World Cup 2025-2026 Olympic Games. She tamed the Olimpia delle Tofane track in 1'36"10, winning with four hundredths ahead of the German Emma Aicher, silver medalist, and 59 hundredths over the Italian Sofia Goggia.
Starting with bib 6, the American mainly widened her lead in the fourth of the five sectors of the Olympic track to succeed the Swiss Corinne Suter.
Eight years after her first Olympic Games in Pyeongchang (South Korea) in 2018 (7th in the downhill), she wrote the most beautiful line on her record, one year to the day after her world title in the discipline obtained in Saalbach. Breezy Johnson thus becomes the second American Olympic downhill champion after... Lindsey Vonn, 16 years ago in Vancouver.
With AFP
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