Lindsey Vonn SHOCKED The World Doing This! What Happens Next Shocks Everyone!
Lindsey Vonn has insisted her “Olympic dream is not over” after she crashed hard during her final downhill race at the World Cup event in Switzerland, a week before the start of the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Lindsey Vonn gives heartbreaking Olympics update after being airlifted to hospital after crash
Story by Hannah Hargrave
The 41-year-old athlete — who is making a comeback to the sport — fell and slammed into the safety nets at the end of the course, and was airlifted to hospital.
Lindsey remained on the ground for several minutes before she was able to get onto her feet but appeared in pain and was seen clutching her knee. She was able to ski down but was then airlifted from the mountain to hospital.
Lindsey’s future at the Olympics remains to be seen
Lindsey later took to Instagram to give fans an update, sharing that she had injured her left knee.
“I am discussing the situation with my doctors and team and will continue to undergo further exams. This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics… but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback. My Olympic dream is not over,” she wrote.
Lindsey in action during the Audi FIS Alpine Ski World Cup on January 28
“Thank you for all of the love and support. Thank you to all the medical staff who helped me today. I am grateful for all the incredible help I received. I will give more information when I have it.”
Lindsey is due to compete for Team USA in the Winter Olympics which begins on February 6, 2026.
Reporters were met by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation’s CEO Urs Lehmann at the finish line where he said: “I know she hurt her knee, I talked to her. I don’t know if it’s really heavy and (if) she won’t miss the Olympics.
Let’s wait for what the doctors are saying.”
She’s made a return to the sport after six years
Lindsey made her comeback last season after six years away from the sport, and is competing with a partial titanium implant in her right knee. It appeared that it was her left knee that she injured in her latest fall.
The ski champion will be making history as the oldest female Alpine ski race competitor in The Games’ history if she’s able to compete.
She told People: “I want to show people that it’s not a disadvantage to be old. I love challenging people’s perspectives, and this is an amazing opportunity to do that. Also, my age is an advantage here,” she added. “I’ve had a lot of experience as a veteran athlete. I’ve skied these tracks four times more than anyone else. Plus, I like breaking records. So if I’m the oldest woman? So be it.”
Related
Talking of why she wanted to return to the sport after her knee replacement, she told the outlet: “I didn’t have any pain at all, my knee didn’t swell. I felt like I could do anything. The thought of ski racing again, something I loved to do so much, but without pain, was really exciting.”
Lindsey Vonn’s injuries over 3 decades range from torn knees to a thumb sliced open on champagne
By ANDREW DAMPF
Updated 12:52 PM EST, January 30, 2026
From slicing her thumb open on a champagne bottle to repeatedly damaging her knees on downhill courses, Lindsey Vonn’s injury history spans three different decades of elite ski racing.
Her latest crash came Friday in the 41-year-old America’s final downhill before the Milan Cortina Olympics. Vonn injured her left knee and was airlifted off the course but said she still hopes to recover in time for the Winter Games, which open next Friday.
She did not disclose any details of her injury.
Vonn — the third skier to crash in the World Cup race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland — lost control when landing a jump and ended up tangled in the safety nets on the upper portion of the course.
Here’s a look at some of Vonn’s other major crashes and injuries:
Assorted bruises and aches; February 2006
Scary fall during downhill training at the Turin Olympics caused a bruised thigh, aching back and sore pelvis. She left the hospital — even trying to grab her belongings and sneak out when the checkout process was taking longer than she wanted — and competed less than 48 hours later. She wound up racing in all four events she’d planned, with a top result of seventh in the super-G. “It’s definitely weird,” she said back then, “going from the hospital bed to the start gate.”
Hyper-extended right knee, bone bruise; February 2007
Partially tore her right ACL in training. Sat out her last two races at the world championships in Are, Sweden, after winning two silvers earlier. Missed the rest of that World Cup season.
Cut right thumb; February 2009
Safe to say Vonn’s oddest injury came off the slopes during the world championships in Val d’Isere, when she needed surgery after hurting herself with a champagne bottle during a photo op gone awry after winning gold in the downhill. “I’m not going to be opening champagne bottles any time soon — probably not for the rest of my life,” Vonn said about a month later. “That’s a mistake you definitely learn from.”
Bruised left forearm; December 2009
Crashed on the first run of a World Cup giant slalom in Lienz, Austria, losing her balance after a sharp turn and falling backward. She wound up not missing a race.
Bruised right shin; February 2010
Slammed her right leg in slalom practice 10 days before the Vancouver Olympics started. Initially, I could barely walk. Needed painkillers and a Novocaine-like numbing cream; also smeared a semisoft Austrian cheese, topfen, on her leg as a home remedy. Raced in the Winter Games, earning two medals: the first Olympic downhill gold for an American woman, and a bronze in the super-G. But she spun out of control during the giant slalom, breaking her right pinkie.
Concussion; February 2011
Injured her head in a fall during World Cup practice in Austria. About a week later, she initially decided to compete — “skiing in a fog,” Vonn called it — at the world championships in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, before eventually withdrawing.
Torn ligaments, broken bone; February 2013
Vonn needed reconstructive surgery after tumbling when she landed in a patch of soft snow during the super-G at the 2013 world championships in Schladming, Austria. She tried to come back but got hurt again in a crash while training in Colorado in November and during a World Cup downhill at Val d’Isere, France, in December, tearing her repaired ACL and requiring another operation on her right knee. Announced in January 2014 she would have to miss the Sochi Olympics.
Broken left ankle; August 2015
Injured during preseason training camp in New Zealand. Wasn’t ready to return at the start of the World Cup season in October, but did compete in late November.
Fractures in left knee; February 2016
Crashed during a World Cup super-G in Andorra. Taken off the mountain in a sled. Competed again the next day, but then went nearly a year without participating in a World Cup race afterward.
Broken right arm; November 2016
Hurt during a training run in her home state of Colorado. Needed surgery. The injury led to nerve damage; she couldn’t move her fingers initially and taped a ski pole to her right glove when she returned to racing. Vonn said later she worried about whether she would be able to use her hand in a normal way ever again and has called it the “hardest recovery of my career.”
Hyper-extended left knee and sprained ligament; November 2018
Vonn hyper-extended her left knee and sprained a ligament while training in November 2018. But she pushed on in what would be her final season before a nearly six-year retirement. At Cortina in January, 2019, Vonn was reduced to tears when she couldn’t finish a super-G in Cortina d’Ampezzo. “I’ve had four surgeries on my right knee. I’ve got no LCL (lateral collateral ligament) on my left knee. I’ve got two braces on. There’s only so much I can handle and I might have reached my maximum,” Vonn said then.
Mid-air straddle; February 2019
Vonn announced after her Cortina ordeal that she would retire after competing the following month at the 2019 world championships in Are, Sweden. During her first race at those worlds, a super-G, Vonn had yet another tumble into the safety netting. After straddling a gate mid-air she ended up sliding down the hill face first. But she came back five days later and won bronze in downhill.
Titanium replacement surgery; April 2024
Lindsey Vonn Is Entering Her Fifth Olympics with a Titanium Knee | Tonight Show
Vonn went through several surgeries during her retirement until she found a solution for her right knee. In April 2024, Vonn had a robot-assisted replacement. Part of the bone in her right knee was cut off and replaced by two titanium pieces. A month later, she was planning her comeback.
Lindsey Vonn’s Intense Crash at Crans-Montana Downhill | Full Run, Replays & Knee Check
Anne Wilson – Grace to Grace | Lyrics Video – YouTube
If anyone can come back from this, it’s Lindsey Vonn
article-id-881044-jwplayer-WEmczdzP – Search
Lindsey Vonn career – Search Videos
Related Stories
Vonn crashes in last race before Winter Games and says ‘My Olympic dream is not over’
Lindsey Vonn’s consistency is unparalleled in the Olympic ski season