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Lindsey Vonn’s sister was emotional as she described watching the Olympic star suffer a hard crash during her race 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 medics came over to check on her. A medical helicopter flew to carry Vonn off the mountain. It is unclear what led to the crash.
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Lindsey Vonn of the United States during the women’s alpine skiing training at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center on February 7, 2026. (Michael Madrid/Imagn Images)
“It was definitely the last thing we wanted to see,” her sister, Karin Kildow, told NBC Sports. “It happened fast. So when that happens, you just hope right away that she’s okay. It was scary because when you start seeing the stretchers being put out, it’s not a good sign. But we just said, ‘The Man in the Arena.’
Kildow added that Vonn, who was dealing with a torn ACL days before the Olympics, was going to give it her all, knowing the outcome could have been catastrophic.
“She always goes 110% and there’s never anything less. I know she puts her whole heart into it and sometimes things happen,” she said. “It’s a very dangerous sport and there are a lot of variables at play. I don’t really know what happened. It looked like a pretty hard fall. We’re just hoping for the best.”
A helicopter lifts Lindsey Vonn of the United States after a crash in women’s alpine skiing during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center on February 8, 2026. (Eric Bolte/Imagn Images)
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Kildow, like the rest of the crowd, was in shock when Vonn crashed.
The Olympic legend was trying to win a medal in the event despite a devastating knee injury she suffered during the World Championships. She made it clear in subsequent social media posts that her ACL was “100% gone.”
An ACL tear usually involves a recovery that lasts about a year, but Vonn planned to fight through it.
She had a successful practice run and it looked like 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.
Lindsey Vonn of the United States crashes during a women’s downhill skiing event 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 downhill and a bronze medal in super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a bronze medal in downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
