Ski superstar's Olympics ends with fractured leg

The 41-year-old tried defiantly to win a second downhill gold medal - 16 years after her first at the Vancouver Games - by competing in Italy only nine days after rupturing her ACL.

But the heroic quest ended in disaster, with Vonn airlifted from the Cortina course after a sickening fall on Sunday.

A little over 10 seconds in to her run, an airborne Vonn lost control over the opening traverse, clipping a gate with her right shoulder, and was sent tumbling down the course. 

She could be heard screaming in pain with her skis criss-crossed under her at an awkward angle as medical staff rushed to her aid.

After lengthy treatment on the site, Vonn was strapped into a "bucket", with a helicopter lifting her off the mountain.

Vonn was taken to a clinic in Cortina, then transferred to a larger hospital in Treviso, a two-hour drive to the south for surgery on a fractured leg.

She underwent an "orthopaedic operation to stabilise a fracture reported in her left leg", the Ca' Foncello hospital said in a statement. 

The US ski team said Vonn was "in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians".

Vonn's plight had left a stunned silence in the finish area where spectators included rapper and Olympic ambassador Snoop Dogg and Italian ski great Alberto Tomba, who had lit the Olympic cauldron in Milan on Friday.

The horrendous crash also dampened celebrations for her US teammate Breezy Johnson, who was in tears sitting in the gold medal chair at the bottom of the run watching her teammate being attended to.

"My heart goes out to her, I hope it is not as bad as it looks," said Johnson, who never won a World Cup race but added the Olympic gold to the world title she won last year.

"I can't imagine the pain that she's going through and it's not the physical pain - we can deal with physical pain - but the emotional pain is something else."

Vonn had skied through injuries for three decades at the top of the sport - she had torn her right knee twice previously, fractured her leg in 2010, and had a titanium plate inserted in a partial knee reconstruction in 2024.

The three-time medallist had been one of the feelgood stories of the Games, recently returning to competition after nearly six years away from competitive skiing.

Before the crash in Switzerland where she suffered her latest knee injury she was considered the gold medal favourite, leading the World Cup downhill standings with two victories and podiums in the other three races.

The four-time overall World Cup champion had also been third in the final training run on the iconic Olympia delle Tofana course on Saturday, racing with a brace.

"This would be the best comeback I've done so far," Vonn said before the race. "Definitely the most dramatic."

IOC president Kirsty Coventry paid tribute to the global superstar.

"Dear Lindsey, we're all thinking of you. You are an incredible inspiration, and will always be an Olympic champion," Coventry said.

Another US teammate Jacqueline Wiles, who finished fourth, also spoke emotionally about Vonn's influence over the squad.

"My heart hurts for Lindsey," she said. "It sucks for her. We're such a tight group. Lindsey has really been a huge mentor for all of us and seeing her go down like that, it really sucks.

"But it doesn't change anything about her legacy. She's a fighter and that's the way that she's going to go out and ski every time."

Johnson, 30, became the second American woman to win the downhill, following Vonn's effort in 2010.

She pipped German Emma Aicher by just 0.04 seconds with Italian Sofia Goggia, who lit the Cortina cauldron at the opening ceremony, taking the bronze.

It's Goggia's third medal, completing a full set of medals after 2018 gold and 2022 silver.

Australian Associated Press