Thirteen seconds lasted the dream of the American Lindsey Vonn, who had to abandon the Olympic downhill due to a violent fall, this Sunday at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, where the skating prodigy Ilia Malinin was crowned with the United States in the team event.
First modification: 02/08/2026 - 17:23 Last modification: 02/08/2026 - 23:57
After her painful accident in the queen of alpine skiing, the American Lindsey Vonn had to undergo surgery in a Treviso hospital for a fracture in her left leg.
Her compatriot Breezy Johnson, who later won the Olympic gold, had been frozen, like the rest of the public and viewers who followed the highly anticipated challenge of 'Speed Queen', who competed with a knee seriously injured by another fall nine days ago in Switzerland.
At 41 years old and a year after having returned to compete with a titanium prosthesis in the other knee, after six years retired, Vonn's exciting Olympic challenge ended in the hospital, where she was transferred by helicopter shortly after her accident.
broken heart
Under a radiant sun, Vonn had launched on her favorite track at the Olimpia delle Tofane at 11:59 local time (10:59 GMT), but a small bump in a curve caused her to lose her balance and upon receiving a jump she ended up falling violently.
The shock was total and only the screams of pain and crying of the skier from Minnesota, downhill champion sixteen years ago and who, at 41 years old, seems to be saying goodbye to her sports career, could be heard.
Slalom queen Mikaela Shiffrin reacted with a broken heart emoticon on her X social media account, while International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Kirsty Coventry called Vonn "an incredible source of inspiration."
An eclipsed champion
After the fifteen minutes that Vonn remained lying in the snow and after evacuation by helicopter, the descent was able to continue, still with the scare in the competitors' bodies.
The victory went to the American Breezy Johnson, who had competed before Vonn, with 4 hundredths of a second ahead of the German Emma Aicher (silver).
The bronze went to the Italian Sofia Goggia, who two days after lighting the Cortina cauldron at the Olympic opening, was 59 hundredths away from first place.
"I wish Lindsey the best, I hope it's not the end" of his career, Johnson reacted after a victory inevitably overshadowed by his compatriot's accident.
Battle on ice
In figure skating, the United States retained its title in the team event, resisting the inspiration of Japan in Milan. That marked the first Olympic gold of the career of his young prodigy Ilia Malinin, a big favorite for the individual category.
In Tesero, the Norwegian Johannes Klaebo won his first gold of this edition and the sixth of his career in the skiathlon, approaching the absolute record of eight winter titles, the great objective with which he traveled to Italy.
In the parallel giant of alpine snowboarding, the Czech Ester Ledecka, current double Olympic champion, fell in the quarterfinals and gave up the crown to her compatriot Zuzana Maderova, while in the men's event the Austrian Benjamin Karl retained the title.
The first biathlon gold went to France, which won the mixed relay, while the Norwegian Sander Eitrem won the 5,000 meters of speed skating and the German Max Langenhem won the individual luge.
Trump against a skier
The US administration continued to be in the news in relation to the Winter Olympics: if on Friday Vice President J.D. Vance was booed at the opening ceremony in Milan, this time it was President Donald Trump who attacked an athlete from his country, freestyle skier Hunter Hess, on his Truth Social platform, whom he called a "real loser."
The 27-year-old athlete had said on Wednesday that "carrying the flag does not mean that it represents everything that is happening in the United States," alluding to White House policy, especially in its anti-immigration campaign.
"It's very difficult to encourage someone like that," Trump said in his message.
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