The Olympics continue, but her followers are hanging on Lindsey Vonn news. The American alpine skiing star, who was trying to become Olympic champion again at the age of 41 despite a serious knee injury, fell heavily and abandoned during the downhill of the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics on Sunday.
Bib 13, the woman who has long earned the nickname “Speed Queen” set off at 11:59 a.m., under a radiant sun, 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 last thing we wanted to see”
Approaching a small bump in a turn, the American aged 41 years and 113 days hit a gate, lost her balance and, upon landing her jump, fell, her skis perpendicular to the track. The public in the finish area let out a cry of fear and froze in front of the images of the star, on her back and grimacing, with her knees bent.
“Lindsey Vonn was injured but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian doctors,” the American Ski Federation said in a laconic press release late in the afternoon, without giving further details.
After the fall, long minutes passed in Cortina, eyes glued to the screens, while medical teams placed Lindsey Vonn, fully conscious, on a stretcher and wrapped her in a blanket, providing her with first aid. “It was the last thing we wanted to see. She always gives 110%, I know she put her whole heart into it,” her sister Karin Kildow told US broadcaster Peacock.
