United States legend and downhill skier Lindsey Vonn took her place at the top of Olympia delle Tofane nine days after tearing her ACL, at the age of 41. Vonn took off from the starting gate and flew down the course. However, just 13 seconds in, it was over.
Her arm got too close to a gate as she turned a corner, twisting her around and sending her crashing down the mountain. Vonn’s chances at another Olympic gold medal were gone, and she had broken her tibia.
When you think of downhill skiing greatness, Lindsey Vonn’s name should be the first that comes to mind. Sixteen years ago, she became the first U.S. woman to win Olympic gold in downhill skiing. She would go on to win two bronze medals, one in super-G in 2010 and one in downhill in 2018.
Along with 84 World Cup victories, 45 downhill wins, 28 super-G wins and 138 World Cup podiums, Vonn is one of the best ever.
After hanging up her skis in 2019 due to injuries, she returned to competitive skiing in November 2024. She had gotten back into Olympic shape before tearing her ACL at the Crans-Montana World Cup downhill in Switzerland on Jan. 30, 2026, just nine days before the Olympics. Many thought her dream had ended.
However, Vonn was determined to compete. She worked with her trainers and doctors, got the okay and completed a qualifying run before her final race on Feb. 8.
Vonn’s crash had nothing to do with her ACL. Her arm twisting into the gate sent her body out of control, confirmed by teammate Keely Cashman in an ESPN article.
“People that don’t know ski racing don’t really understand what happened yesterday,” Cashman said. “She hooked her arm on the gate, which twisted her around. She was going probably 70 mph, and so that twists your body around.”
Vonn gave an update in an Instagram post on Feb. 9 and had no regrets about competing.
“Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a storybook ending or a fairy tale, 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. 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.”
Vonn, at 41, went out there on one knee with her country’s flag on her uniform and competed one last time. The question is, should she have taken the risk?
Johan Eliasch, International Ski and Snowboard Federation president weighed in his opinion.
“I firmly believe that this has to be decided by the individual athlete,” Eliasch said in an ESPN article. “And in her case, she certainly knows her injuries on her body better than anybody else. And if you look around here today with all the athletes, the athletes yesterday, every single athlete has a small injury of some kind.”
Vonn has accomplished everything in the sport, yet she wanted to compete, not just for glory or gold, but for the chance to represent the United States one more time.
No one but her knows her body and what she could or couldn’t do. To say she shouldn’t have competed is wrong and not our place.
Vonn wanted to leave a legacy as more than a skier, but as someone who didn’t let anything stop her.
“Similar to ski racing, we take risks in life,” Vonn continued in her Instagram post. “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. 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.”
Whether she should have competed isn’t for us to decide. What we can decide is this: Lindsey Vonn is a champion, not just because of what she won, but because of what she dared to risk.