In her final race before the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Friday morning, Lindsey Vonn lost her balance and crashed into a side net during the Crans-Montana World Cup downhill, causing her airbag to inflate.
After the crash, Vonn was able to ski down to the finish area, albeit gingerly, while clutching her left leg. She was evaluated by medical staff and airlifted to a hospital for further testing. It is unclear what her diagnosis is.
“She has some pain, so it’s better to have some checks,” Vonn’s coach, Aksel Lund Svindal, told Reuters. “The physio did some checks, they seemed OK, but there were things he was not 100 percent sure, so it was good to have it checked.”
In an Instagram post, the decorated alpine skier said her Olympic dream “is not over.”
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The skier was competing in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on unfavorable snow-surface conditions. Several of the skiers who competed crashed; officials called off the rest of the race after Vonn’s spill.
“You can’t see, and it’s bumpy everywhere,” French skier Romane Miradoli told Reuters after making it to the bottom.
The two other skiers to fall were Austrian Nina Ortlieb and Norwegian Marte Monsen. Ortlieb crashed in the same upper area as Vonn, but was able to ski away, while Monsen went down lower on the course and was taken away on a stretcher with facial injuries.
In a press conference before the start of the World Cup season, Vonn had expressed concern about racing in Crans-Montana due to a notoriously dangerous slope.
“I’m definitely going to be very strategic with how I approach the World Cups, especially with Crans Montana,” she said. “It’s the last race before the Olympics. Historically, there have been difficulties with weather, snow conditions, and injuries specifically.”
The extent of Vonn’s injuries—and her Olympic status—are not yet known.
The post Lindsey Vonn Airlifted To Hospital Nine Days Before Olympics Begin appeared first on Outside Online.
