Crans-Montana, Switzerland — 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.
Vonn lost control when landing a jump in a World Cup race and ended up tangled in the safety nets on the upper portion of the course.
She eventually got up after receiving medical attention and walked away gingerly, taking weight off her left knee and using her poles to steady herself. She then clicked her skis back on but stopped to check her left knee.
Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images
Last month, Vonn raced to a stunningly fast win in a World Cup downhill at St. Moritz to earn her first victory in nearly eight years — and the first in her comeback with titanium implants in her right knee after a five-year retirement.
Vonn eventually made it to the finish area Friday and limped into a tent for medical attention. The race was later canceled after three of the first six racers crashed.
Before she entered the tent, Vonn had an anxious expression on her face and her eyes were closed during a long embrace with teammate Jacquelin Wiles, who was leading the race when it was canceled.
The 41-year-old Vonn has been the circuit’s leading downhiller this season with two victories and three other podium finishes, having returned last season after a partial right knee titanium replacement.
The crash occurred exactly a week before the Milan Cortina opening ceremony.
Vonn’s first Olympic race is the women’s downhill on Feb. 8. She was also planning on competing in the super-G and the new team combined event at the Games.
Women’s skiing at the Olympics will be held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds the record of 12 World Cup wins.
Vonn was also planning on racing a super-G in Crans-Montana on Saturday in what would have been her final race before the Games.
Vonn had registered the fastest time at the first checkpoint and then landed a jump off balance, lifted her left arm and pole high into the air in an attempt to regain her balance. Then as she tried to brake, Vonn got spun around and ended up in the nets.
Vonn was the sixth racer to start and two other skiers had also crashed before her: Nina Ortlieb of Austria and Marte Monsen of Norway.
Ortlieb crashed on top in the same area as Vonn and Monsen hit the nets just before the finish area and had to be taken away in a sled. The race was delayed after both of those crashes. But then two racers – Wiles and Corrine Suter, the Olympic champion, completed their runs.
Romane Miradoli of France, who did complete her run, said visibility was an issue, with snow falling.
“You can’t see,” Miradoli said, “and it’s bumpy everywhere.”
Asked if it was dangerous, Miradoli added, “We just couldn’t see well.”
Vonn has had numerous crashes in her career. One of her worst was at the 2013 world championships in Schladming, Austria, during a super-G that was also held in difficult conditions. Vonn then had to be airlifted off the course and tore apart her right knee. She returned the following season, got hurt again and missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
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