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<\/p>\n\u201cMy heart goes out to her, I hope it\u2019s not as bad as it looked,\u201d Johnson said after winning gold.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how difficult it is to ski this course and how sometimes because you love this course so much, when you crash on it and it hurts you like that, it hurts that much worse. My heart just goes out to her.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Olympic champion Breezy Johnson.Credit: Getty Images<\/p>\n
Johnson said she empathised with Vonn and knew, in part, how she must be feeling. Johnson withdrew from the 2022 Olympics following a crash on the course in Cortina, two weeks before the Olympics in Beijing. She tore cartilage in her knee in the accident and was given the option to try to compete, but didn\u2019t want to cause permanent damage to her knee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t claim to know what she\u2019s going through, but I do know what it\u2019s like to be here, to be fighting for the Olympics and to have this course burn you and to watch those dreams die,\u201d Johnson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life. I can\u2019t imagine the pain she\u2019s going through, and it\u2019s not the physical pain. We can deal with the physical pain. But the emotional pain is something else. I wish her the best and I hope this isn\u2019t the end.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Lindsey Vonn is airlifted out of the arena.Credit: AP<\/p>\n
International Ski and Snowboard Federation president Johan Eliasch said these kinds of incidents were the harsh reality of the sport.<\/p>\n
\u201cTragic, but it\u2019s ski racing, I\u2019m afraid. I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport because this race has been the talk of the Games, and it\u2019s put our sport in the best possible light,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope she will have a speedy recovery and be back on skis very soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
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It\u2019s a devastating end to Vonn\u2019s Olympic campaign, after she was determined to start in the event despite her ACL injury nine days ago.<\/p>\n
The five-time Olympian posted videos of intense training and rehabilitation in the lead-up to the event, appearing to function as if nothing had happened.<\/p>\n
Vonn\u2019s comeback was already a huge talking point of the Games \u2013 returning to the Olympics after almost six years in retirement and two after the insertion of a titanium replacement in her right knee.<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t the only crash on the slopes of Cortina for Sunday\u2019s medal event, with Andorra\u2019s Cande Moreno also being choppered off the course after a fall 30 seconds into her run.<\/p>\n
The Winter Olympic Games will be broadcast on the 9Network, 9Now and Stan Sport.<\/p>\n