Lindsey Vonn Injury Revealed Following Scary Crash at 2026 Winter Olympics

Vince Pensabene
Lindsey Vonn of the United States during women's alpine skiing downhill training in February at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre.

Lindsey Vonn is one of the most recognized American figures at the Winter Olympics, and this was going to be her last time competing in the Olympics. While everyone was hoping for an outstanding send-off for the Olympic gold medalist back in the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, it was a difficult scene to watch for the 41-year-old.

Let’s take a closer look at what exactly happened during the Olympic downhill event that caused a lot of scary headlines.

Lindsey Vonn crashes during her final Olympic downhill and suffers a significant injury

Lindsey Vonn has been preparing for the 2026 Winter Olympics, as she earlier confirmed this will be her final Olympics before retiring. However, she has been bitten by the injury bug in the worst way possible. She was already dealing with a knee injury that was reported to be a torn left ACL during training for the event, but the injuries continued to pile up.

Vonn would begin her Olympic downhill event, but it did not take long for disaster to unfold. She would lose control within a few seconds of leaving the start house, clipping a gate with her right shoulder and falling down the slope before landing awkwardly on her back. Her skis would be crisscrossed below her, and you could hear her screams in agony as medical personnel arrived to the scene.

She would be attended to for some time before being strapped to a gurney and flown away. Vonn would be diagnosed with a fracture in her left leg, and the US ski team would issue a statement confirming she was in stable condition with American and Italian physicians.

Anouk Patty, the chief of sport for U.S. Ski and Snowboard, would comment on the situation, addressing how dangerous the sport is:

“She’ll be OK, but it’s going to be a bit of a process. 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 teammate, Breezy Johnson, would win gold in the event as she and Vonn are now the only American skiers to win the event. However, it is brutal that this appears to be the closing shot of Vonn’s Olympic career.

Vin has been writing about sports in every capacity for more than a decade. He currently is the manager of the Bets & Fantasy site for Total Apex Sports.