{"id":287769,"date":"2026-02-08T20:16:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:16:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/287769\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T20:16:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T20:16:10","slug":"lindsey-vonn-in-stable-condition-after-olympic-dream-ends-in-heartbreak-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/287769\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsey Vonn in \u2018stable condition\u2019 after Olympic dream ends in heartbreak \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lindsey Vonn is reported to be in a \u201cstable condition\u201d after her fairytale Olympic<\/a> comeback ended with her being airlifted to hospital following a crash in the women\u2019s downhill in Cortina.<\/p>\n

The American had damaged her ACL when falling in a World Cup race at Crans-Montana just over a week ago but still lined up in Sunday\u2019s event at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre.<\/p>\n

Racing as the 13th skier, Vonn clipped a gate just seconds into her run and somersaulted off the course, remaining on the ground for a prolonged period before a helicopter whisked her to hospital.<\/p>\n

In an update on X, the US Ski and Snowboard Team said: \u201cLindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Cortina crowd had raised a huge cheer as Vonn pushed out of the gate but fell almost silent as the 41-year-old crashed out, before again applauding her off the mountain as the helicopter passed overhead.<\/p>\n

Vonn\u2019s team-mate and reigning world champion Breezy Johnson took the title, becoming the first American woman to win the event since Vonn\u2019s triumph in Vancouver in 2010.<\/p>\n

Johnson said: \u201cThe work that we put in, the careers, my heart aches for her. It\u2019s a tough road, and it\u2019s a tough sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the beauty and the madness of it, that it can hurt you so badly, but you keep coming back for more.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t have anything except that her coach said she was cheering for me in the helicopter. I hope for the best for her. I hope that it\u2019s not too bad. My heart aches for her. It\u2019s such a brutal sport sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AA helicopter is seen rescuing Lindsey Vonn after she crashed during the women’s downhill at the Winter Olympics. Photograph: Al Bello\/Getty Images <\/p>\n

Of following Vonn as an American champion, Johnson added: \u201cIt\u2019s crazy, because downhill is, in my opinion, the premier event of Alpine skiing, and to win a gold medal in it as an American is very surreal.<\/p>\n

\u201cLindsey has accomplished so much, and will always live in a different echelon than I do, but to have your name alongside her is really something special.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vonn initially retired from the sport in 2019 due to injury but, after undergoing a partial knee replacement in April 2024, she returned to competition in December that year and had won two World Cup events this season before her fall in Switzerland.<\/p>\n

She had successfully completed two practice runs on the course on Friday and Saturday, wearing a brace on her injured knee, and her coach Aksel Lund Svindal felt she was in \u201cgood enough\u201d condition to challenge for a medal.<\/p>\n

Another team-mate, fourth-placed Jacqueline Wiles, said: \u201cWatching Lindsey go down from the start was pretty awful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have such a sisterhood. We travel with each other on the road. We\u2019re a family. To watch someone that you care about so much, it sucks.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy heart broke for her in that moment, but that is the inherent risk of the sport.\u201d<\/p>\n

The fourth member of the US team, Isabella Wright added: \u201cYou don\u2019t want that for anyone and you especially don\u2019t want it for your team-mate and for Lindsey.<\/p>\n

\u201cI always say this, \u2018if anyone can do it, it\u2019s Lindsey\u2019. Whatever it is, or whatever the situation, she\u2019s very strong. We\u2019re going to support her the best we can.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Lindsey Vonn is reported to be in a \u201cstable condition\u201d after her fairytale Olympic comeback ended with her…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":287577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112,23196],"class_list":{"0":"post-287769","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-winter-olympics"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=287769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/287769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/287577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=287769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=287769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=287769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}