Olympic skiing icon Lindsey Vonn endured a crash during the women’s downhill alpine skiing final at the Winter Olympics held on Sunday. Vonn, aged 41, returned to the competition just nine days after sustaining a left ruptured anterior cruciate ligament injury.
Unfortunately, Vonn’s comeback took a tragic turn as she crashed shortly after beginning her run. Medical professionals quickly attended to her on the scene, with a stretcher being brought out for assistance.
The distressing incident left Vonn visibly upset and in significant pain, prompting a somber atmosphere among spectators as she was airlifted onto a stretcher, presumably for transportation to a nearby medical facility.
Graham Bell, a five-time Olympic skier, expressed shock while providing commentary on BBC Two. He remarked, “Oh no, She’s gone. She has crashed, she did everything she could, she has gone on the top of the course and the crowd are stunned.
“She took all of the risks to get here. She proved in the training run that she could get to the starting gate.”
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Chemmy Alcott, a former British downhill skier who raced alongside Vonn, emotionally reacted to the incident during commentary. She expressed deep concern, stating, “I actually feel guilty that I am this emotional. When we thought about the end of this story, we never thought and never believed that it would end in her in a clump at the side of the piece, not moving.
“The top section is running very fast. The left-footer is really hard for healthy athletes. She is trying to throw herself down this, gunning for the podium. She doesn’t have a left knee, she drops her hip back and this is an absolute nightmare. It is an absolute nightmare.
“The whole world is watching and we wanted to see her come through the finish smiling, because she was fast, we wanted to see her take on this challenge, it is just really tough.”
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