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Lindsey Vonn’s sister was emotional as she described watching the Olympic star suffer a hard crash during her run at the Milan Cortina Games on Sunday.
Vonn was in the first sector when she lost her balance and fell hard. She writhed in pain as medical professionals came over to check on her. A medical helicopter flew to carry Vonn off the mountain. It’s unclear what led to the crash.
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Lindsey Vonn of the United States during women’s alpine skiing downhill training at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre on Feb. 7, 2026. (Michael Madrid/Imagn Images)
“That was definitely the last thing we wanted to see,” her sister, Karin Kildow, told NBC Sports. “It happened quick. So, when that happens, you’re just immediately hoping she’s OK. It was scary because when you start to see the stretchers being put out, it’s not a good sign. But we were just saying, like, ‘The Man in the Arena.’ Like, she just dared greatly and she put it all out there, so, it’s really hard to see but we just really hope she’s OK.”
Kildow added that Vonn, who was dealing with a ruptured ACL days before the Olympics, was going to give it her all, knowing that the result could have been disastrous.
“She always goes 110% and there’s never anything less. I know she put her whole heart into it and sometimes things happen,” she said. “It’s a very dangerous sport and there’s a lot of variables at play. I don’t really know exactly what happened. It did look like a pretty rough fall. We’re just hoping for the best.”
A helicopter air lifts Lindsey Vonn of the United States after a crash in the women’s downhill alpine skiing race during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre on Feb. 8, 2026. (Eric Bolte/Imagn Images)
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Kildow, like the rest of the crowd, was in shock as Vonn crashed.
The Olympic legend was attempting to medal in the event despite a devastating knee injury she suffered while at the World Cup. She made clear in subsequent social media posts that her ACL was “100% gone.”
An ACL tear normally involves a recovery that lasts about a year, but Vonn planned to fight through it.
She had a successful training run and it appeared the momentum was behind her to at least finish the run.
The Team USA legend is the second-most successful woman in World Cup history with 84 wins. She has won eight World Championship medals.
United States’ Lindsey Vonn crashes during an alpine ski women’s downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Vonn won a gold medal in the downhill and a bronze medal in the super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games and a bronze medal in the downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympic Games.
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