Sawt Falasteen - Vonn crashes out of Winter Olympics, ending medal dream

Vonn was just 13 seconds into her run in bright sunshine in Cortina d'Ampezzo when she lost control, twisted in the air and crumpled in the snow.

The 41-year-old's cries of pain could be heard on the microphones as medical staff attended to the stricken skier on the piste.

Thousands of spectators at the bottom of the run fell silent and Vonn's watching sister was ashen-faced.

Vonn was eventually strapped into a stretcher and winched into the air by helicopter.

The US superstar, one of global sport's most recognisable faces and an alpine skiing icon, had made a remarkable comeback from retirement in 2024 thanks to a titanium implant in her right knee.

After a superb 2025-2026 season, she seemed in pole position to add to her Olympic gold from the 2010 Vancouver Games.

But all her plans were thrown into disarray when she crashed in a World Cup race at Crans Montana, Switzerland, on January 30.

In a press conference at the Olympics, she admitted she had ruptured her ACL in the crash, but insisted she could still compete.

"This is not obviously what I had hoped for.... I know what my chances were before the crash and and I know my chances aren't the same as it stands today," she said then.

"But I know there's still a chance, and as long as there's a chance I will try."

She even batted aside those who doubted her ability to perform with such an injury, and took to social media to fire back at a sports doctor for doubting her ACL tear was "fresh" from Crans Montana.

"My ACL was fully functioning until last Friday. Just because it seems impossible to you doesn't mean it's not possible," Vonn said.

"And yes, my ACL is 100 percent ruptured. Not 80 percent or 50 percent. It's 100 percent gone.”

In other action on Sunday, the USA go into the final day of the figure skating team event seeking to hold off a stiff challenge from Japan.

Ilia Malinin, the US sensation who was upstaged on his Olympic debut on Saturday by Japan's Yuma Kagiyama, skates again on Sunday in the free programme.

Medals are also on offer in biathlon, cross-country skiing, luge, snowboard and speed skating.

R.Halabi--SF-PST