• American, 32, wins season-opening giant slalom

• Moltzan edges Albania’s Lara Colturi by 0.01sec

• Mikaela Shiffrin drops from first to seventh place

American Paula Moltzan became the oldest woman to claim her first Alpine skiing World Cup victory on Saturday, pipping Albania’s Lara Colturi by just one-hundredth of a second in a thrilling season-opening giant slalom at Sölden, Austria.

Moltzan, who was fifth after the opening run, produced a superb second descent to finish with a combined time of 2min 14.82sec, narrowly denying her Italian-born Albanian rival, who finished in 2min 14.83sec. Germany’s Emma Aicher completed the podium, 0.52sec behind the Minnesota native.

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© Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA

© Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA

© Photograph: Gian Ehrenzeller/EPA

Zendaya steht wegen ihrer Schmuckwahl in der Kritik, Mick Jagger hätte lieber nicht auf John Lennon gehört, und Sebastian Fitzek darf bei GZSZ Sebastian Fitzek spielen.

• American nearly lost leg after crash at Winter Games

• 41-year-old does not rule out return to racing

Lindsey Vonn says she is still recovering physically and emotionally from her crash at the Winter Olympics and does not know when, or if, she will race again.

The 41-year-old has undergone eight surgeries after suffering a complex left leg fracture – one that nearly led to a leg amputation – in the women’s downhill in February. She needs at least one more operation to repair a torn ACL in the same knee.

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© Photograph: Fatima Shbair/AP

© Photograph: Fatima Shbair/AP

© Photograph: Fatima Shbair/AP

• Aicher trims Vonn’s downhill lead to just 14 points

• Pirovano wins first race in 125th World Cup start

• USA’s Johnson third as overall title race tightens

With neither injured Lindsey Vonn nor Mikaela Shiffrin starting a World Cup downhill on Friday, Emma Aicher seized her chance to cut the American superstars’ leads in the season-long standings.

Aicher, the Olympic downhill silver medalist, placed second – just 0.01 behind first-time winner Laura Pirovano, pushing Olympic champion Breezy Johnson down to third – and reduced Vonn’s lead in the downhill points race to just 14 with two races left.

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© Photograph: Marco Trovati/AP

© Photograph: Marco Trovati/AP

© Photograph: Marco Trovati/AP

• 41-year-old developed compartment syndrome

• Skier credits Team USA surgeon with saving leg

Lindsey Vonn says she came close to having her leg amputated in the aftermath of her crash during the Olympic downhill earlier this month.

The 41-year-old sustained a complex tibia fracture to her left leg in the crash and underwent multiple surgeries in Italy before being flown back to the US for further treatment last week. But in an Instagram post on Monday, the American said the crash also led to compartment syndrome in her leg. The condition occurs after traumatic injuries such as falls from heights and car crashes. According to the Cleveland Clinic, “compartment syndrome happens when there’s too much pressure around your muscles. The pressure restricts the flow of blood, fresh oxygen and nutrients to your muscles and nerves. Compartment syndrome is extremely painful.” The lack of blood flow can lead to permanent damage to patients.

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© Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Stefano Rellandini/AFP/Getty Images

• American fractured tibia in downhill last week

• Vonn was initially treated in Italy for injuries

Lindsey Vonn is back home in the US to continue treatment after she broke her leg during the Winter Olympic downhill.

“Haven’t stood on my feet in over a week… been in a hospital bed immobile since my race. And although I’m not yet able to stand, being back on home soil feels amazing,” Vonn posted on X with an American flag emoji. “Huge thank you to everyone in Italy for taking good care of me.”

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© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

• American fractured tibia in downhill last week

• Vonn reiterates she has no regrets over crash

Lindsey Vonn is preparing to fly back to America after she fractured her tibia in the Olympic downhill last week, according to the CEO of the US Ski and Snowboard Association.

Sophie Goldschmidt says her team’s medical staff has been coordinating Vonn’s recovery and hopes to accompany her back home to the United States. Vonn has had multiple surgeries in Italy to repair the complex tibia fracture in her left leg.

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© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

• American crashed out of Olympic downhill event

• Bryan Graham: Crash a violent but honest ending

• Medal table | Live scores and schedule | Results

Lindsey Vonn says she has had a successful third surgery on the broken leg she suffered during the women’s Olympic downhill on Sunday.

Vonn posted an update on Instagram that included photos of her giving a thumbs up in her hospital bed with a metal frame attached to her leg.

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© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

© Photograph: @lindseyvonn/Instagram/Reuters

• American was competing with ruptured ACL

• Vonn says she has complex tibia fracture

• Father says it is time for his daughter to retire

Lindsey Vonn says she suffered a complex tibia fracture “that will require multiple surgeries to fix properly” when her Olympic hopes ended in a heavy crash.

The American crashed out early in her run during the women’s downhill competition on Sunday. Her cries of pain could be heard clearly on the television broadcast and spectators and her fellow athletes were visibly shaken as she was airlifted to hospital.

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© Photograph: Joel Marklund/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Joel Marklund/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Joel Marklund/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock

The gruesome finish to the US star’s comeback, at age 41 and with a ruptured ACL, is a reminder of skiing’s unforgiving nature

There was always a version of this story that ended in a single, violent instant. Lindsey Vonn was 13th to push out of the start gate on Sunday in Cortina d’Ampezzo knowing exactly what she was racing with: a fully ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee, a heavy brace wrapped around the joint, and the accumulated wear of a career spent flirting with speed and consequence.

Vonn barely made it out of the opening phase of the run.

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© Photograph: Joel Marklund/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Joel Marklund/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Joel Marklund/BILDBYRÅN/Shutterstock

• US skier stable after surgery on broken leg

• Vonn’s US teammate Breezy Johnson tops podium

• Winter Olympics 2026: live news and updates

The Olympic career of Lindsey Vonn has ended in a sickening, split-second crash high on the side of the Tofane downhill run in Cortina d’Ampezzo. The American, one of the most successful skiers in history, had come out of a five-year retirement to compete in her fifth Games, and was hoping to become the oldest athlete, male or female, ever to win a medal in the downhill.

Vonn was just 12 seconds into the race when her legs gave way beneath her as she rode a bump. She twisted, fell, and tumbled and, after the first stunned screams and shouts, the crowd all around the mountain fell entirely silent in shock and worry. The US team later confirmed she was in a “stable condition and in good hands” following surgery after breaking her left leg.

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© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

© Photograph: Jacquelyn Martin/AP

The well-dressed alpine town, all art deco and Prada, is watching Mouat and Dodds dominate before the focus turns to Vonn’s daredevil act

The sun rises late in Cortina d’Ampezzo, like everything else in this little alpine town. It’s gone eight o’clock in the morning by the time the daylight has made it over the high peaks to the east, and it’s another two hours from that before the Olympic day gets under way.

It’s slow out, as if everyone’s still sleeping off the night before, when the town was out cheering for the athletes as they made their parade around the square. The police are still packing away all the railings, and the street sweeps are brushing up the confetti. Non c’è fretta. No one’s in a rush. Maybe your bus will turn up, but no one’s making any promises.

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© Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA

© Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA

© Photograph: Jean-Christophe Bott/EPA

Time has never seemed to stop the US skiing star. Entering Sunday’s Olympic downhill medal race, injuries haven’t either

It was all going a little too easy for Lindsey Vonn. All the nervous apprehension, the paternalistic concern, the arch skepticism and hushed snickers that had rippled through the sports world when she announced her comeback from a six-year retirement had long since gone silent. A once-unthinkable fairytale ending at the age of 41 on the slopes of Cortina d’Ampezzo was practically within touching distance.

Back in November 2024, having been chased from the sport in 2019 by a battered right knee worn down by a string of gruesome crashes and multiple surgeries, Vonn proposed a return to a high-risk sport where no woman had ever won a race past the age of 34. There’s a history of comebacks like these going brutally wrong, and even Vonn’s most dedicated fans were bracing themselves for the worst. Think a shopworn Joe Louis getting battered through the ropes and on to the ring apron by Rocky Marciano. Or Björn Borg returning to the tour in the early 90s with a wooden racket, defiantly flailing through a sport that had moved on without him.

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© Photograph: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Marco Bertorello/AFP/Getty Images

The 41-year-old American aims to complete her comeback by racing in the women’s Olympic downhill on Sunday despite rupturing her left A.C.L. a week ago.

© James Hill for The New York Times

• US star clocks successful practice run a week after injury

• Olympic medal race is set for Sunday at Cortina

Lindsey Vonn moved a step closer to one of the most improbable Olympic starts in Alpine skiing history on Friday, producing an aggressive and largely clean downhill training run on the Olimpia delle Tofane course less than a week after fully rupturing the ACL in her left knee and being airlifted off a mountain in Switzerland.

The 41-year-old American clocked 1min 40.33sec in a fog-delayed session, but the time itself was secondary to what the run represented: proof that she can still attack a course at speed – and survive it – as she targets Sunday’s medal race.

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© Photograph: Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters

© Photograph: Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters

© Photograph: Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters

• US skiing icon must wait to test injured knee

• Coach confident skier will be competitive at Games

Lindsey Vonn has been forced to wait for her chance to test her injured knee after heavy snowfall led to the cancellation of the first women’s downhill training at the Winter Olympics.

The American skiing icon was due to take part in Thursday morning’s training session in Cortina d’Ampezzo as she attempts to compete at the 2026 Games with a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee.

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© Photograph: Leonhard Föger/Reuters

© Photograph: Leonhard Föger/Reuters

© Photograph: Leonhard Föger/Reuters

• Vonn confident despite ACL rupture before Olympics

• Will decide after testing knee at race speeds soon

• Olympic downhill scheduled for Sunday at Cortina

Lindsey Vonn said she is “confident” she can compete at the Milano Cortina Winter Games despite revealing she has been managing a ruptured ACL, maintaining that her Olympic comeback remains on track after a crash last week raised fresh doubts over her participation.

Speaking on Tuesday, the 41-year-old American said she was approaching the final decision cautiously but remained focused on lining up for the downhill at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where the Olympic women’s alpine programme opens Sunday.

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© Photograph: Leonhard Föger/Reuters

© Photograph: Leonhard Föger/Reuters

© Photograph: Leonhard Föger/Reuters

• American still preparing for Milano Cortina Games

• ‘Thank you for the love and support I have received’

Lindsey Vonn sat out a World Cup super-G race on Saturday after crashing and injuring her left knee a day earlier, but remains on track for the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, her coach said.

“No, she is not racing today but preparing for Cortina as usual,” Chris Knight, Vonn’s personal head coach, said in a text message. Vonn then posted on Instagram: “Unfortunately, I won’t be able to race today. Thank you for all of the love and support I have received. Means the world to me. Doing my best right now …”

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© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

© Photograph: Denis Balibouse/Reuters

• Vonn crashes into nets and clutches left knee

• Race in Crans-Montana abandoned after early falls

• ‘My Olympic dream is not over,’ insists US star

Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the final World Cup downhill before the Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on Friday, leaving the American skiing great limping and clutching her left knee as organizers abandoned the race amid worsening conditions.

The 41-year-old lost control after landing a jump on the upper section of the course in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, skidding sideways into the safety netting as snow fell steadily and visibility deteriorated. Vonn’s airbag deployed on impact and she remained down for several moments while medical staff attended to her on the piste.

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© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

• Vonn makes it five podiums from five downhills

• Delago earns first World Cup win on home snow

• Foggy Tarvisio hosts first race in 15 years

Italy’s Nicol Delago won a foggy women’s World Cup downhill on home snow in Tarvisio on Saturday as age-defying US Alpine ski great Lindsey Vonn powered to her fifth podium in five races.

The victory, in a time of one minute and 46.28 seconds with bib number three, was the 30-year-old Val Gardena skier’s first on the World Cup circuit and her first podium since she was third in Saalbach in March 2024.

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© Photograph: Action Press/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Action Press/Shutterstock

© Photograph: Action Press/Shutterstock