Skiing icon Vonn cried in agony and pain after suffering a bad fall on the course, days after injuring her anterior cruciate ligament.
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Published February 8, 2026
Lindsey Vonn’s Winter Olympic dreams ended with a scream of agony when she fell in the women’s downhill at the Milan-Cortina Games, failing in a daring attempt to win a medal in her favorite event.
American teammate and world champion Breezy Johnson won Sunday’s race and took home the gold medal.
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Preliminary results showed that Germany’s Emma Eicher won the silver medal, just 0.04 seconds behind, while Italian favorite Sofia Goggia had to settle for bronze.
Johnson’s Olympic title on the sunlit Olimpia delle Tofane Piste in Cortina d’Ampezzo came exactly one year after she won gold at the world championships in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.
American star Vonn was aiming for her fourth Olympic medal despite suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee about a week ago, but her race ended early in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Medical staff surrounded the distraught 41-year-old, who cried in agony and pain after she took a bad fall on the course at Olimpia delle Tofane, a ski slope where she has had much success in the past.
The 2010 Olympic downhill champion first hit hard snow just 13 seconds into his descent. She then fell down the slope with her skis on, potentially causing more serious damage to her knee.
Vonn’s Olympic dreams are now in tatters due to her valiant efforts to achieve the seemingly impossible. The attempt ended with her being taken away in a helicopter as fans in the stands saluted her with loud applause.
Vonn, one of the world’s most recognizable faces in the sport and an icon in alpine skiing, insists she can not only compete but beat the world’s best female skiers, some of whom, like Eicher, are nearly half her age.
Vonn said ahead of the match that she also plans to compete in the team combined event on Tuesday and the super-G two days later.
But that seems unlikely now, with the possibility of a long layoff likely spelling the end of her return to skiing in her early 40s.
Vonn retired in 2019, but returned to competition in November 2024 after undergoing partial right knee replacement surgery to resolve persistent pain.
Vonn has finished on the podium in every World Cup downhill race so far this season, including two wins at St. Moritz and Sauchensee, and has two more top-three finishes in super-G.
But after one of the biggest Winter Olympics stories came to a tragic end, Vonn is facing retirement.
