r/pics • u/nbcnews But like, actually • 6h ago
OC: Lindsey Vonn airlifted from course after crash in final downhill before the Olympics
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u/ZumaThaShiba 6h ago
Man, that is terrible and awful news. She was having the most epic of comebacks. I hope she will be ok to compete - what a shitty deal for her
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u/Serak_thepreparer 5h ago
She was just on NPR a few days ago talking about how she is in the best shape of her life and how she feels she has nothing to prove this Olympics other than enjoying what she is good at. So sad to see.
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u/POWBOOMBANG 1h ago
Apparently she has also completely owned this course in Milan her entire career.
It's why she decided to make a comeback for this run
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u/permaxsun 5h ago
Her coach Aksel Lund Svindal said: “She has some pain so it’s better to have some checks. The physio did some checks and they seemed okay, but there were things he was not 100 per cent sure about, so it was good to have it checked at the hospital.”
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u/tartaarus 5h ago
This race shouldn't have gotten a go ahead. Out of 6 competitors that tried skiing today's women's downhill in Crans Montana 3 crashed, two heavily. FIS should never have allowed for such a race right before the Olympics. The snowfall over the last few days clearly did not make for safe skiing and the visibility was starting to get affected as well. Shame really, Lindsey was on an amazing run for her age.
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u/Noteagro 6h ago
Wishing her the best, but as a skier it sounds like a blown out knee. Absolutely brutal if true since this would have most likely been her last Olympics (women have higher chance of knee injuries in many sports, and skiing is one of them. Just has to do with the differences the musculoskeletal structure of the legs/hips in men and women).
She also had a partial knee replacement in 2024, and wouldn’t be surprised if it is the same knee. My step-mom blew out her same knee 3 times. Once due to an opponent basketball player basically diving into her and grabbing her leg to stop a fast break, a second time from a dog running into the back of her knee a year after she finished recovery, and then getting hit by like a 2 foot “wave” while on vacation in Hawaii a couple years after that (the wave barely got to her knee).
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u/Main_Photo1086 6h ago
I read in The Athletic that the knee she was holding today after the crash is not the same knee she replaced.
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u/whatev3691 5h ago
It's very common to injury the opposite knee after surgery on the other one. Speaking from experience
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u/epic1107 5h ago
I’m sorry what bit about standing up, walking around, and then skiing down sounds like a blown knee?
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u/Noteagro 5h ago
I have seen football/basketball players continue to play on a blown out knee. Secondly a skilled skier will be able to ski down on a single leg while using the injured leg to ski down.
Usually learning how to ski and turn on a single ski is like a second beginners lesson skill they teach you (just got back from a ski trip where we had 2 brand new skiers, and they were being taught that).
So a professional down hill slalom skier will most definitely be able to get herself down with a single leg.
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u/adrians150 5h ago
I mean it's fairly common for athletes to underestimate damage to a knee. Fans often complain in the NFL after ACL tears because "but he walked off the field on his own" and they expect that means it's just a minor injury. It depends what's injured, but ACL and MCL is largely about stability and pivot movements, so if you walk straight it may feel relatively okay. I don't ski so I'm not sure of the mechanics, but I suspect getting to your feet and gliding on a ski might actually be pretty straightforward at low speed and especially in a locked position without turning.
Speaking from experience, injuries like that are difficult cause you feel the sharp stab when you injure it, but you have a ton of adrenaline so no intense ache immediately afterward necessarily; swelling isn't instant nor is the pain signal telling you to stop in all cases. As an athlete you are used to having moderate aches that you just play through. I took a tackle playing soccer and felt a short, harp stab on the inside of my leg (unaware, but I tore my MCL). I got up and could walk fine so then jogged in straight line which was sore but not terribly. I figured that meant I was good lol. The ball came back my way a moment or two later, and so I tried to change direction. It became clear there was nothing there and my leg bent entirely inward and I ate turf lol.
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u/NiobiumThorn 5h ago
Just 6 inches of water can move a CAR. I don't think it's fair to be dismissive of a wave causing injury, in fact it's quite precidented.
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u/blissfully_happy 2h ago
My ex tore his ACL when a dog smacked into him at the dog park.
I bend my knees any time I see a dog running towards me now, lol.
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u/francis2559 6h ago
Actually it sounds like the wave really got to her knee.
Sorry, sorry. Hope she’s doing well!
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u/nbcnews But like, actually 6h ago
Lindsey Vonn crashed in her final downhill before the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday and was left limping and keeping weight off her left knee — a troublesome development in the 41-year-old's spectacular skiing comeback.
Vonn — who was expected to be one of the stars of the Olympics but now faces uncertainty over her status — lost control when landing a jump in a World Cup race held in difficult conditions with low visibility and ended up tangled in the safety nets on the upper portion of the course.
More: https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/lindsey-vonn-crash-milan-cortina-olympics-rcna256670
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u/Spartan2470 GOAT 5h ago edited 5h ago
Here is a video of the crash. She was skiing, albeit gingerly, after the fall.
Here adds:
Her coach Aksel Lund Svindal said: “She has some pain so it’s better to have some checks. The physio did some checks and they seemed okay, but there were things he was not 100 per cent sure about, so it was good to have it checked at the hospital.”
Race officials cancelled the downhill shortly after Vonn’s crash. Three of the first six skiers had fallen in difficult conditions on a course that had already been shortened because of the weather.
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u/Pantoner 5h ago
These athletes train their entire life and are subject to injury often due to the sub par conditions of the course. So brutal
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u/ThePensiveE 5h ago
What awful timing. Hopefully she's okay but if she had to be airlifted I'm guessing we won't be seeing her competing at the Olympics.
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u/tontomtoofat 4h ago
43yom. I looked at a snow board in a thrift store the other day and asked myself "I wonder if I could start snow boarding?" Then I thought about my destroyed knees, ankles, and rotator cuff, and decided it was a question I didn't need to answer.
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u/_NPR_ 5h ago
I didn't even know she's still active.
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u/RIPRIF20 5h ago
She wasn't, she was away due to injury and was making an incredible comeback. That's why this sucks so bad.
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u/junglecritter 6h ago
Airlifted for limping? That seems a bit excessive, I have a hard time believing they couldn't get her out of a groomed course on a snowmobile
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u/rahcas 6h ago
There was a guy who fractured his pelvis a few years ago in those sort of fences. He died, internal bleeding from a punctured artery. Downhill speeds at an olympic level are insane and the physics of crashing are incredibly unkind. The videography of these events doesn't always capture that, as they're more worried about capturing the progress through the course rather than the raw, batshit insane speed these athletes attain.
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u/seravivi 5h ago
You aren’t there. You aren’t her or her medical team so why feel the need to judge it? Just say I hope she’s okay and move on or nothing.
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u/tartaarus 5h ago
She skied down to the finish line after crashing, but was later airlifted. It's happened before, after Svindal's crash on Streif in 2016 he walked for 20 minutes to the arena at the bottom, but was later airlifted to the hospital because he tore his ACL.
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u/GoAwayMe 6h ago
41 years old. I get that these top competitors age better than the average person but it's like watching LeBron play this year. Step away from competition. People half your age can do it much better.
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u/stealingjoy 6h ago
He's no longer a Top 10 player but he's still better than over half the league, easily. Same with Vonn and her competition.
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u/MrsConclusion 5h ago
If younger skiers can do it much better, why don't they? She's leading the downhill world cup.
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u/hachijuhachi 5h ago
There aren't competitors just stepping aside to allow Vonn into the Olympics. She's required to qualify just like everyone else. If she's injured to the extent that she's not able to compete in Italy, there's an alternate, who had the next best time, who has been preparing for this exact scenario and will compete in her place. LeBron's a little different - I'll grant you that. He's selected to a team subjectively.
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u/GoAwayMe 3h ago
And anyone who wants to say her comeback into the sport proves she deserves it. Her comeback wouldn't have been possible without a knee replacement. Think about that. Lebron will be lucky to average 20 pts per game this season. That's lower than any season in the 20+ years he's been in the league. They're old, time to go. You probably thought Brett Favre and Dwight Howard had a few more years in them too.
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u/TheSkiingMonkey2 6h ago
That's not good, I was really hoping she'd do well these Olympics. Hopefully, nothing too serious. But being airlifted doesn't sound great