Lindsey Vonn’s coach revealed that in the days leading up to her devastating crash, the 41-year-old skier had been overcompensating on her healthy knee. This incident ultimately marked the end of her Olympic journey.
The 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist, who was competing with already compromised ligaments in her left knee, experienced excruciating pain after colliding with a gate just 13 seconds into her race in Cortina on Sunday. The crash resulted in a ‘complex’ fracture that will necessitate multiple surgeries.
Fresh insights have emerged about the factors leading to Vonn’s fall in the women’s downhill event, according to a report by the Belgian newspaper Het Nieuwsblad.
The publication highlighted comments from Aksel Lund Svindal, a Norwegian skiing legend and two-time Olympic champion, who has been coaching Vonn since 2025. He noted, after a recent training session, that Vonn was putting more weight on her right knee during landings to alleviate pressure on her injured left knee.
This imbalance seemed to manifest during her ill-fated run. The seasoned skier accelerated over a hill and then crashed into one of the course’s plastic gates, bringing her Olympic finals run to a tragic end.
As Vonn fell, her right leg struck the ground first, surrounded by a cloud of snow. She then tumbled forward, hitting her shoulder on the icy surface before finally coming to a stop on the slope.
Vonn’s coach Aksel Lund Svindal (left) had reportedly observed that the 41-year-old had been overcompensating on her uninjured knee in the days leading up to her horrific crash on Sunday
The 2010 Olympic downhill champion, who was already racing with ruptured ligaments in her left knee, was left screaming in pain after striking a gate just 13 seconds into Sunday’s run
Wouter Van den Broecke, medical supervisor for the International Ski Federation (FIS) at the Winter Games, wrote in Het Nieuwsblad: ‘I spoke with the Italian team doctor. The descent on Sunday was very challenging, he told me, bordering on too difficult, especially because the snow conditions weren’t great.
‘We don’t have any clarity about her exact injury (prior to the crash). But if it is indeed a “classic” complete cruciate ligament tear, she must have always had additional injuries: the sudden impact causes microfractures, often on the outside of the knee. This causes the bone marrow to swell, a condition called bone edema.
‘You can’t numb that. She may be fit and strong, and strapped in a brace, but you can’t stop the shock. You could clearly see that Vonn couldn’t handle the pressure and “flew away” as a result.’
Van den Broecke, who firmly believes the decision to green-light her race went against medical professionalism, added: ‘This crash was an accident waiting to happen. On the one hand, there’s the world star, a fantastic woman who, at 41, is trying to return to the Olympics after countless sacrifices. On the other hand, this is a particularly bad example for young people when it comes to health and safety.’
Vonn spoke publicly for the first time since her crash on Monday, insisting the accident was not caused by the ruptured knee ligaments she suffered in the same left leg nine days earlier.
Posting on Instagram, the American star said: ‘Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairytale, 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 five inches.
‘I was simply five 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.
Vonn spoke publicly for the first time since her crash on Monday, insisting the accident was not caused by the ruptured knee ligaments she suffered in the same left leg nine days earlier
Vonn was airlifted off the mountain after the horrific crash which caused her to suffer a ‘complex’ broken leg which will require multiple surgeries
The Cortina crowd had been stunned into silence and the downhill event was temporarily suspended, with other competitors removing their skis at the top of the slope
‘Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.’
Following her crash, organisers began playing background music to drown out her cries as she was lifted on to a stretcher and off the mountain.
The Cortina crowd had been stunned into silence and the downhill event was subsequently suspended, with other competitors removing their skis at the top of the slope as they waited for Vonn to be evacuated.
Vonn’s team-mate Breezy Johnson, 30, ultimately won the downhill race, securing gold for the USA ahead of Germany’s Emma Aicher, 22.
On Monday afternoon, Svindal posted on social media: ‘Lindsey. You are incredibly brave. You inspire the people who follow your journey and us who work closely with you every day. Yesterday was a tough day on the mountain. For everyone, but especially for you.
‘Nevertheless, something happened that I think says it all. “Congratulate Breezy and tell her she did a great job.” Your teammate was in the lead, and that was the message you wanted to convey to the US ski team coaches before being flown to the hospital. True character is revealed in difficult moments.’
Vonn’s American team-mate Keely Cashman said people who had criticised her for competing ‘do not know what’s going on’.
‘People that don’t know ski racing don’t really understand what happened yesterday,’ downhill skier Cashman said on Monday.
‘She hooked her arm on the gate, which twisted her around. She was going probably 70mph, and so that twists your body around.’
Italy’s two-time world champion Federica Brignone also defended Vonn, saying: ‘It’s your body, then you decide what to do, whether to race or not. It’s not up to others. Only you.’
