{"id":592362,"date":"2026-02-15T19:26:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:26:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/592362\/"},"modified":"2026-02-15T19:26:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-15T19:26:11","slug":"lindsey-vonn-is-preparing-to-fly-back-to-the-us-team-official-tells-ap","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/592362\/","title":{"rendered":"Lindsey Vonn is preparing to fly back to the US, team official tells AP"},"content":{"rendered":"

CORTINA D\u2019AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) \u2014 Lindsey Vonn was preparing to fly back to her home country on Sunday after her terrifying head-over-heels crash<\/a> in the Olympic downhill, the U.S. Ski Team\u2019s chief told The Associated Press.<\/p>\n

Sophie Goldschmidt, president and CEO of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association, told the AP the team\u2019s medical staff has been coordinating Vonn\u2019s recovery since the crash and subsequent helicopter evacuation<\/a> at the Milan Cortina Games<\/a> and would try to accompany her home. Vonn has had multiple surgeries in Italy to repair a complex tibia fracture in her left leg.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re working through all of that at the moment,\u201d Goldschmidt said. \u201cWe\u2019ve got a great team around helping her and she\u2019ll go back to the U.S. for further surgeries.\u201d<\/p>\n

Spectators tuning in to see Vonn attempt to win a medal at age 41 with a torn ACL<\/a> in her left knee and a partial titanium replacement<\/a> in her right knee were thrown into shock when the American standout got hooked on a gate 13 seconds into her run<\/a> \u2014 resulting in a spinning, air-born crash that sent her careening down the Dolomite mountain.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe impact, the silence, everyone was just in shock. And you could tell it was a really nasty injury,\u201d said Goldschmidt, who was in attendance for the fall. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of danger in doing all sorts of Alpine sports but it gives more of an appreciation for how superhuman these athletes are.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean putting your body on the line, going at those speeds, the physicality. Sometimes actually on the broadcast it\u2019s really hard to get that across,\u201d Goldschmidt added. \u201cDanger sometimes brings fans in and is pretty captivating. We obviously hope we won\u2019t have injuries like that but it is unfortunately part and parcel of our sports.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vonn herself has no regrets.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I think back on my crash, I didn\u2019t stand in the starting gate unaware of the potential consequences,\u201d Vonn said in an Instagram post<\/a> late Saturday. \u201cI knew what I was doing. I chose to take a risk. Every skier in that starting gate took the same risk. Because even if you are the strongest person in the world, the mountain always holds the cards.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut just because I was ready, that didn\u2019t guarantee me anything. Nothing in life is guaranteed. That\u2019s the gamble of chasing your dreams, you might fall but if you don\u2019t try you\u2019ll never know,\u201d Vonn added.<\/p>\n

Goldschmidt visited Vonn at the hospital twice and said, \u201cShe\u2019s not in pain. She\u2019s in a stable condition.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe took an aggressive line and was all in and it was inches off what could have ended up a very different way,\u201d Goldschmidt said. \u201cBut what she\u2019s done for our sports and the sport in general, her being a role model, has gone to a whole new level. You learn often more about people during these tough moments than when they\u2019re winning.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gold, silver and bronze for US in Alpine<\/p>\n

On the day that Vonn crashed, teammate Breezy Johnson won gold<\/a> in downhill.<\/p>\n

Also, Ryan-Cochran-Siegle took silver<\/a> in super-G for a second straight Olympics and Jacqueline Wiles and Paula Moltzan took bronze<\/a> in team combined.<\/p>\n

Four years ago, Cochran-Siegle earned the only U.S. Alpine medal in Beijing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve invested and worked really hard with our Alpine team over the last few years and it\u2019s nice to see that kind of pay off,\u201d Goldschmidt said. \u201cThere\u2019s so many variables in these sports. … The pressure and spotlight affects people in so many different ways.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shiffrin is \u2018the ultimate role model on and off the snow\u2019<\/p>\n

Mikaela Shiffrin is an overwhelming favorite to conclude the Alpine program with a gold in slalom on Wednesday. She has won 71 of her record 108 World Cup victories in the discipline.<\/p>\n

Shiffrin couldn\u2019t hold onto a medal position in combined after Johnson, her teammate for the event, led the downhill leg, then finished 11th in the giant slalom<\/a> on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe is the ultimate role model on and off the snow,\u201d Goldschmidt said. \u201cWhen you work with Mikaela there is no risk. She\u2019s completely committed and doing everything she can. … To have the records that she does, she clearly is a big-race skier.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless (of her Olympic results) she\u2019s an all-time great and someone that makes us proud on a very regular basis and a great teammate as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tunnel traffic between Cortina, Livigno and Bormio<\/p>\n

Goldschmidt has also been checking in on the U.S. cross-country, freestyle and snowboard teams with an itinerary that has also taken her to Bormio, Livigno and Val di Fiemme.<\/p>\n

Sunday marked the third time of the Olympics that she was in Cortina after \u201cthousands\u201d of driving miles.<\/p>\n

With mountain passes closed in winter, the route from Cortina to Livigno and on to Bormio requires traveling a section of road in Switzerland and then the Munt la Schera Tunnel back into Italy.<\/p>\n

Since the tunnel has only one lane, travelers need to wait for cars to come out from the other end before the traffic direction switches.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been through that three times,\u201d Goldschmidt said. \u201cI really want to show my support. We care about all our teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

AP Winter Olympics: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics<\/a><\/p>\n