The American Lindsey Vonn underwent surgery on her leg after a serious fall during the Olympic downhill race. “Apparently it’s a fracture in the lower leg,” said the Americans’ speed coach, Alex Hödlmoser, to the Swiss broadcaster SRF. The Italian news agencies Ansa and Adnkronos, citing the Treviso hospital, reported that Vonn had undergone surgery on his left leg there.
The US ski team had previously written on X that Vonn was injured but stable and was being cared for by American and Italian doctors. The 41-year-old was left screaming in pain after her fall on the Olimpia delle Tofane slope in Cortina d’Ampezzo, was treated for a long time and finally taken to a hospital by helicopter.
Vonn, who said she had suffered, among other things, a torn cruciate ligament in her left knee just a week earlier, fell after just 13 seconds on the descent and hit the slope violently. The race was interrupted. After Vonn, two other athletes fell, the Austrian Nina Ortlieb and Cande Moreno from Andorra. Like Vonn, Moreno had to be transported by helicopter.
“She has already taken the risk above”
Vonn made her much-discussed comeback in December 2024 after a five-year break. In Cortina d’Ampezzo she drove with a partial prosthesis in her right knee. The left leg was also supported by a splint. But right at the beginning of her descent, she caught her arm on a gate while jumping and lost control in the air. She hit the slope hard and her knees seemed to twist.
“She has definitely already taken the risk above. That was the fear I had, that she would try to go over the limit for this one race,” said ex-professional Felix Neureuther on ARD. “If you were so seriously injured and are driving without a cruciate ligament, you also have to overcome yourself mentally so that you have a chance.”
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