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Lindsey Vonn’s sister was emotional as she described watching the Olympic star suffer a serious fall during her race at the Milan Cortina Games on Sunday.
Vonn was in the first sector when she lost her balance and fell violently. She writhed in pain as medical professionals came to check on her. A medical helicopter flew in to carry Vonn off the mountain. It is unclear what exactly led to the accident.
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Lindsey Vonn of the United States during women’s alpine skiing training at the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Ski Center on February 7, 2026. (Michael Madrid/Imagn Images)
“It was definitely the last thing we wanted to see,” his sister, Karin Kildow, told NBC Sports. “It happened quickly. So when it happens, you immediately hope that she’s okay. It was scary because when you start seeing the stretchers out, it’s not a good sign. But we were just saying, like, ‘The man in the arena.’ She just dared and she put it all out there, so it’s really hard to see but we really hope she’s okay.”
Kildow added that Vonn, who suffered a torn ACL days before the Olympics, was going to give it her all, knowing the outcome could have been disastrous.
“She always goes 110 percent and there’s never anything less. I know she put her heart into it and sometimes things happen,” she said. “It’s a very dangerous sport and there are a lot of variables at play. I don’t really know what happened. It looks like a pretty tough fall. We’re just hoping for the best.”
A helicopter carries Lindsey Vonn of the United States after an accident during the women’s alpine ski race during the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics at the Tofane Alpine Ski Center, February 8, 2026. (Eric Bolte/Imagn Images)
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Kildow, like the rest of the crowd, was in shock when Vonn crashed.
The Olympic legend was trying to medal in the event despite a devastating knee injury she suffered during the World Cup. She made it clear in subsequent social media posts that her ACL was “100% gone.”
A torn ACL normally involves a recovery that lasts about a year, but Vonn planned to fight.
She had a successful training run and it looked like the momentum was behind her to at least finish the race.
The Team USA legend is the second most successful woman in World Cup history with 84 victories. She has won eight medals at the World Championships.
American Lindsey Vonn crashes during a women’s alpine ski race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, February 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Vonn won a gold medal in downhill and a bronze medal in super-G at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and a bronze medal in downhill at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics.
