He had barely begun his journey when the television signal lost sight of Lindsey Vonn. The American lost her balance and crashed into the protective nets on the descent of Crans Montana, the last stage of the Alpine Skiing World Cup, to … one week before the opening of the Milan-Cortina Olympic Games.
The alarms immediately went off. Vonn, the World Cup leader in downhill, took a while to get up while a dozen people from the organization worried about her condition. Then, the one from Minnesota got up and finished the route on her skis, at low speed and stopping every so often with a gesture of pain to feel her knee.
Already attended to by members of the American team, Vonn shook her head several times and, once at the finish line, she ended up being evacuated by the helicopter to the hospital.
“She is being examined,” the American Ski Federation said at first, while her coach, former Norwegian skier Aksel Lund Svindal, wanted to send a message of calm in statements to Austrian television, reported by AFP: “I hope she is fine. We are not sure, it is being examined. “I had a little pain in my left foot and left knee, but I remain optimistic.”
Vonn, 41, was finalizing her preparation for the Games after returning to competition in November 2024, after five years of retirement. His goal is to repeat the Olympic gold in downhill that he achieved in Vancouver 2010. For now, his season was almost impeccable: leader of the World Cup, two victories and seven podiums in eight races, in total.
Test canceled
Vonn’s was not the only fall and for that reason the organizers decided to cancel the descent due to the complicated conditions and the lack of references after the significant snowfalls of the last 48 hours, according to AFP.
“The judges and organizers have decided to stop the race,” said those responsible for the event, after three of the six skiers who had left for their descent ended up against the nets.
Before Vonn, Austrian Nina Ortlieb had fallen in the same place, without gravity. The Norwegian Marte Monsen did have a more violent fall, just before the finish line, and even lost her helmet on impact.
