CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, ITALY - FEBRUARY 08: Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women's Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre on February 08, 2026 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy. ((Screengrab by IOC via Getty Images))
MINNEAPOLIS (FOX 9) - Minnesota native Lindsey Vonn had dreams of finishing her Olympic downhill skiing career with a gold medal around her neck in Milan.
Instead, she had to be taken off the mountain by a helicopter after her second fall in about a week.
Lindsey Vonn crashes during final Olympic run
The backstory:
Vonn was just out of the gate for her final journey down the hill when she lost her balance going around a turn. She went air born without any control, crashed and lay motionless in the snow before medical aid arrived and she got taken away in a helicopter.
Vonn was skiing on a torn ACL suffered last week during a practice run, though she says that had nothing to do with her fall Sunday. She said Monday in a social media post she was just a few inches too tight on her turn, got her arm hooked inside the gate and lost balance, leading to her crash.
"Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.
"I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.
"Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.
"While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.
"And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try.
"I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.
"I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying.
"I believe in you, just as you believed in me."
Breezy Jonnson wins gold
What we know:
With Vonn injured and unable to finish her run, Breezy Johnson won gold for the Americans.
What's next:
It’s believed Vonn is done competing and is set to retire from competitive skiing. She won gold in downhill skiing in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.