Lindsey Vonn said Friday she still hopes to recover in time for the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics after injuring her left knee in a fall during her final downhill race before the Olympics.
Hours after being airlifted from the course for medical checks, the 41-year-old American wrote on Instagram: “This is a very difficult result one week before the Olympics… but if there’s one way I can do it, it’s to make a comeback.” “The Olympic dream is not over yet.”
Recommended stories
list of 4 itemsend of list
Vonn became the third skier to lose control during a jump landing and become tangled in a safety net at the top of the course during a World Cup race in Crans-Montana.
After being examined by a doctor for about five minutes, she stood up, using a stick to support herself despite the pain. Vonn then skated slowly to the finish line, stopping several times along the way to hold her left knee.
“Today I fell during a downhill race in Switzerland and injured my left knee. I have discussed the situation with my doctors and team and will continue with further tests,” Vonn said in an Instagram post. “Thank you for all the love and support. We will let you know when we have more information.”
The race, which was held in difficult conditions with poor visibility, was canceled after Vonn’s crash.
The American, who was expected to be one of the tournament’s biggest stars, limped into a tent for treatment and was airlifted out by helicopter, hanging from a hoist cable with two attendants.
Before entering the tent, Vonn looked anxious and closed her eyes during a long hug with teammate Jacqueline Wiles, who was leading the race when the race was stopped.
“I know she hurt her knee. I talked to her,” Urs Lehmann, CEO of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, told reporters at the finish area. “We don’t know if it’s really serious and if she won’t miss the Olympics. Let’s wait for the doctor’s word.”
Vonn took a break from ski racing for about six years, but made a spectacular comeback last season at age 40. She skis with a partial titanium implant in her right knee and has been the circuit’s top down hiller this season, winning two of the five races and finishing on the podium three times.
Including the super-G, Vonn completed eight races in this season’s World Cup, finishing on the podium in seven of them. Her worst result was fourth place.
The accident occurred just one week before the Milan-Cortina opening ceremony.
Vonn’s first Olympic race will be the women’s downhill on February 8th. She was also scheduled to compete in the super-G and new team combined events at the competition.
Women’s Olympic skiing will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, and Vonn holds the record for 12 World Cup wins.
Vonn was scheduled to run a super-G in Crans-Montana on Saturday, which was supposed to be her last race before the Olympics.
Vonn was the sixth racer on Friday’s downhill and had the fastest time until he lost his balance at the first checkpoint and landed a jump. She lifted her left arm and pole high into the air in an attempt to regain balance. When I tried to brake, it spun and fell into the net.
Two skiers ahead of her also crashed: Austria’s Nina Ortlieb and Norway’s Marte Momsen.
Ortlieb crashed from the top in the same area as Vonn, and Momsen hit the net just short of the goal area and had to be carried away on a sled. The race was delayed due to both crashes. But then two racers, Wiles and Olympic champion Colin Suter, completed the race.
Wiles was just barely able to make a final tight left turn that fooled Momsen.
France’s Romane Miradori, who started and finished second, said it was snowing and visibility was a problem.
“I can’t see anything. It’s bumpy everywhere,” Miradori said.
Asked if it was dangerous, Miradori added: “I just couldn’t see very well.”
Vonn has had many crashes in her career. One of her worst moments came at the 2013 World Championships in Schladming, Austria, during the super-G, also held in difficult conditions. Vonn was then airlifted from the course and had to tear her right knee. She returned the following season, but was injured again and missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Friday’s race started in a subdued atmosphere in Crans-Montana, which is still dealing with the trauma of a devastating bar fire that killed 40 people and injured more than 100 in the early hours of New Year’s Day. A minute’s silence was observed before the race.
The finish area has been stripped of color and the usual sponsor advertising. In its place was a black and white banner with a ribbon with the words “Our thoughts are with you” written in French, German, Italian and English.
