OAN Staff Cory Hawkins
1:28 PM – Friday, January 30, 2026
American Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn was airlifted from a World Cup race in Switzerland on Friday after she wiped out during her final run, just one week before she is slated to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
“This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics… but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback,” the 41-year-old olympian posted on social media just hours after she was airlifted off the course for medical checks. “My Olympic dream is not over.”
Vonn crashed in the Crans-Montana mountains after losing control attempting to land a jump, becoming tangled in the safety nets along the upper portion of the course.
After receiving medical attention for approximately five minutes, she got up appearing to be in pain and used her ski poles to maintain balance. Vonn then reluctantly skied the remainder of the slope, stopping a few times to grasp her left knee.
The 41-year-old then limped into a medical tent for evaluation before being swiftly airlifted off the course in a harness.
“Lindsey Vonn fell in the Crans Montana downhill and is being evaluated,” the U.S. Ski Team said in its update on Vonn.
Aksel Lund Svindal, Vonn’s coach, told Reuters that Vonn was being evaluated at a hospital.
“She has some pain so it’s better to have some checks. The physio did some checks. They seemed okay but there were things he was not 100% sure so it was good to have it checked (at the hospital),” said the coach.
Two other competitors, Switzerland’s Priska Nufer and Italy’s Nicol Delago, also crashed on the same run before Vonn attempted her go. Competitors complained about the visibility, with one saying, “you can’t see,” and adding that the course was “bumpy everywhere.”
The race, held in snowy conditions with low visibility, was cancelled after Vonn’s crash.
Vonn commented about the Crans-Montana course last fall, noting the consistently poor weather and crashes that occur there. She said she would consider skipping the event if she did not need the points, but Vonn leads the downhill standings and is sixth in the overall race.
“I’m definitely going to be very strategic with how I approach the World Cups, especially with Crans-Montana,” Vonn said at the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic media summit in late October. “Historically, there’s been difficulties with weather and snow condition and injuries specifically. So that will be probably the biggest concern I have is Crans-Montana.”
“So if I have to race in that race, I will, but I’ll be very strategic about how I approach that,” she noted.
The Olympian retired in 2019 due to the physical toll the sport brought her, as well as the many injuries she had sustained. She had a partial replacement of her right knee in April 2024 to allow her to live a normal, pain-free life.
However, she decided to make a comeback after a smooth recovery, returning to the World Cup circuit in December 2024. Vonn has won two downhill races, including the season opener, and has been on the podium in every downhill race.
Vonn’s first Olympic event is expected to be the women’s downhill on February 8th. She is also scheduled to compete in the super-G and the new team combined event.
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