Crans-Montana (Switzerland) (AFP) – Skiing great Lindsey Vonn crashed badly during the women’s downhill race at Crans-Montana on Friday, just one week before the start of the Winter Olympic Games in Italy. The 41-year-old American had skidded out into the safety netting, and while she was able to ski down to the bottom of the Swiss piste after her crash, she appeared to be in great discomfort from her left knee. She was one of several skiers to crash, and shortly after her spill, organisers cancelled the race.
Vonn was set to be one of the faces of the upcoming Milan-Cortina Games, one of seven Americans set to compete at their fifth Olympics. She, and the US team, now face a nervous wait to discover the extent of her injuries. The US ski federation said her injury was being evaluated.
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“We hope she’s OK, we’re not entirely sure; she’s being examined,” said Vonn’s coach, the Norwegian skiing great Aksel Lund Svindal. “She’s feeling a bit of pain in the left foot and left knee, but I’m feeling positive,” he told the Austrian public television station.
The race in Crans-Montana — the site of a deadly fire a month ago that killed 40 young people and injured 116 — was set to be the last before the Games start on February 6. Three of the six skiers who took to the downhill slope in the Swiss resort ended up in the safety nets, after which organisers decided that enough was enough. “The jury and the organisers have decided to stop the race,” they said, as Austria’s Nina Ortlieb and Marte Monsen of Norway had also careered off-piste.
As Vonn was skiing back down to the finish line after her fall, she stopped several times to hold her left knee. At the bottom of the Crans-Montana piste, she seemed to be in tears as she hugged US teammate Jacqueline Wiles. Heavy snowfall over the last 48 hours had made things difficult for the athletes. They were only able to train just once on Wednesday, while training on Thursday was cancelled. A women’s Super-G is set to go ahead on Saturday with a men’s downhill on Sunday.
During her long career, Vonn has torn ligaments in both knees, suffered broken arms and legs, and even a concussion. Less than two years ago, she underwent a partial knee replacement to resolve persistent pain caused by her multiple injuries. Just over six months later, she made her comeback to the sport aged 40 following her second retirement in 2019. Vonn won Olympic downhill gold in Vancouver in 2010, eight years after making her Games debut in Salt Lake City as a fresh-faced teenager.
© 2024 AFP
