Lindsey Vonn breaks leg in crash as US teammate Breezy Johnson wins downhill Olympic gold
The American star had been trying to claim her fourth Olympic medal in her favoured discipline at the Milano Cortina Games
Lindsey Vonn’s Winter Olympic dream ended in screams of pain on Sunday after she crashed out of the women’s downhill won by her American teammate Breezy Johnson.
The American star had been trying to claim the fourth Olympic medal of her career despite suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee just over a week ago, but her race ended after just 13 seconds in Cortina d’Ampezzo.
She cried in anguish and pain after her violent crash high up the course, medical staff quickly surrounding the distraught 41-year-old on the Olimpia delle Tofane piste where she has enjoyed much success in the past.
“In the afternoon, (Vonn) underwent orthopaedic surgery to stabilise a fracture of the left leg,” the Ca’ Foncello hospital in Treviso said.
The 2010 Olympic downhill champion hit the firm snow face first soon after pushing off from the gate.
She then rolled down the slope with her skis still attached, which could probably have caused further serious damage to her knee.