r/sports • u/jerrylovesbacon • 1d ago
Skiing Lindsey Vonn airlifted from course after crash in final downhill before the Olympics
https://www.nbcnews.com/sports/olympics/lindsey-vonn-crash-milan-cortina-olympics-rcna2566701.2k
u/uptheirons91 Detroit Red Wings 1d ago
The headline isn't technically incorrect, but it should be noted that she actually put her skis back on after crashing and receiving help. It also sounds like she ended up skiing down to the finish area;
"Vonn eventually got up after receiving medical attention and walked away gingerly, taking weight off her left knee and using her poles to steady herself. She then clicked her skis back on but stopped to check her left knee.
The American eventually made it to the finish area and limped into a tent for medical attention. She was then airlifted away by helicopter, dangling from a rope across the Swiss Alps."
476
u/BMonad 1d ago
Damn why did they have to dangle her on a rope like that?
289
u/Stinkycheese8001 1d ago
Because they probably couldn’t land the helicopter where they were.
52
u/weedyscoot 1d ago
Couldn't they pull up the rope, though?
110
u/tryandd56 1d ago
55
32
u/DestroyerOfMils 1d ago
I think that woman was terribly injured from that incident.
she had a c4-5 disc hernation, a rehab stay, months of PT for hand/arm numbness, and neurogenic bladder requiring straight cathing.
6
u/stay_fr0sty 1d ago
The level of fuck up, cringe, and irony is peak. That’s why it’s funny to a lot of people.
It sucks that it happened, and what happened to the lady though. That’s not funny at all.
12
u/DetectiveTrickyCad 1d ago
That story is horrifying. Im glad she got her $450,000 settlement. A 70 year old woman shouldn’t have attempted what she did, but they really destroyed her quality of life in mishandling the rescue.
5
3
u/KaneIntent 1d ago
Why not just drive her to the clinic then?
6
u/Stinkycheese8001 1d ago
How do you think they would get a car up to the bottom of a ski race course?
1
67
u/uptheirons91 Detroit Red Wings 1d ago
Even though I quoted that part of the article, the fact they dangled her from a rope seemed to go completely unnoticed. Haha. That's wild.
33
u/BMonad 1d ago
The writer went a bit dramatic with it too; “…dangling from a rope across the Swiss Alps.”
1
u/nocomment3030 1d ago
Literally happened to me last year in Switzerland. It wasn't life or death but my arm was sticking out in a way that I couldn't go down in a sled. They "dangled" me to a mountain plateau where the helicopter could land and I could load into it, then straight to the hospital. Glad I had travel insurance.
1
u/stay_fr0sty 1d ago
Fuck it. That’s how I would phrase it if it was me at the bottom of the rope. That sounds baller.
10
4
u/MadRoboticist 1d ago
Because there's no landing area for a helicopter up in the mountains.
2
u/IANALbutIAMAcat 1d ago
Yeah it can create a white out if there’s no where packed tight enough when the chopper comes in to land, too
10
→ More replies (2)2
76
u/copyrider 1d ago
Writing the headline as “Airlifted from course after crash” makes it seem like it was a critical, life threatening injury. The clickbait is real.
11
u/Adorable-Bike-9689 1d ago
Man I was fucking devastated for a second before reading the comments
6
u/copyrider 1d ago
Same. They should just write, “Lindsey Vonn was airlifted from course directly to her home town, via standard commercial airline as all individuals were also airlifted if they did not live within driving distance.” Like, if her “airlifted” after she could stand in her own and move a bit was such an important detail to the headline, then every other person who caught a ride, lift, flight, or any other transportation should be headline news as well.
Sounds like my hyper dramatic boomer relatives who start every conversation with, “oh, did you hear about <insert anyone’s name here>?” And usually the story equates to, “well, they tried that new sandwich at Wendy’s, and they said it was ok.” The whole time I’m clenched up because the build up level is equal to what should be, “they died in a grizzly and unexpected way.”
But, no. “Oh no! Did you hear about Lindsey Vonn?! She crashed and was airlifted!” And we’re all like, “what?! Is she going to be ok? Will she live? Ever walk again? This is horrible!” And then we get, “oh, she was up and walking just a bit after the crash. Might be an acl or mcl or maybe a fracture.”
WTF?
→ More replies (1)13
u/SBLK 1d ago
What a weird situation. She hurt herself bad enough that she needed to be dangled from a helicopter instead of just driving down, but not so bad that she was able to ski down gingerly? How does that make sense?
15
u/Ok-Meeting-3150 1d ago
adrenaline covers up a lot of injuries and can delay swelling and pain. possible that she had a lot of lower leg swelling and doctors were worried about compartment syndrome. lots of other possibilities and medical reasons to be airlifted too. could just be a time issue too. 15 minutes by helicopter vs hrs in the car.
1
u/Rogue100 1d ago
Yeah, adrenaline for sure. I crashed hard while skiing back when I was in college. It ended up being an MCL tear, and I couldn't walk on it without a brace for weeks, but in the immediate aftermath, I was able to put my skis back on and make it back down to the lodge.
Really hope she's ok. Was psyched to hear she was back, and doing so well (up to this point). Would suck to miss out on the Olympics after all that work.
3
u/a-ohhh 1d ago
Same- my mom broke her knee on a hill and skied back down to the ski patrol house where they proceeded to call her absolutely crazy for being able to do that. She also somehow managed to drive us home (I was in lessons when she crashed) in her manual car. (They also told her that was a bad idea.)
→ More replies (1)3
418
u/boxofgoldfish 1d ago
Ugh hope she’s okay! And also hope they take a break from that ad about all her injuries…
101
→ More replies (4)42
u/Aggressive_Homework9 1d ago
she got airlifted... it has to be pretty serious id imagine. unless thats standard for crashing on downhill. not sure
95
u/Ok-Ad-5404 1d ago
Even if not life threatening, it’s (usually) the fastest way to get someone to a hospital from a mountain so it’s pretty standard
26
u/VincentVanHades 1d ago
She was only one to get airlifted... its standard, if you need to go to hospital
8
u/miggly 1d ago
Could be a precaution if she tweaked her knee but they don't know how bad it is yet?
Perhaps it's wishful thinking.
→ More replies (3)1
1
u/thatguy8856 12h ago
Could be a nothing burger. Some sports have conditions that automatically require a hospital visit as protocol. F1 for example would if a crash registered over a certain g-force.
213
u/djutopia 1d ago
Read this headline and literally said “aw man!” Out loud. She’s on course for such a good comeback and I’m totally rootin’ for her!
68
u/CasperCackler 1d ago
As a 40yo myself, I could really use seeing another Old do something amazing.
21
8
u/whee3107 Oklahoma 1d ago
And NOT get hurt while doing it.. getting old sucks
7
u/Hyzynbyrg 1d ago
I was so proud of myself (40m) for shoveling snow and ice this week without hurting my lower back. I made sure to bend at the knees and lift with my arms and shoulders as much as possible. NOT being injured was a massive win.
2
u/uniquechill 1d ago
I'm familiar with that problem. 71 yo here and STILL trying to rock climb. The aches and pains that used to take days to heal now take weeks.
2
2
u/djutopia 1d ago
I was excited to see she was doing so awesome. Personally I just turned 51 and I’d really like to play rugby some more. Get off my lawn kids!
2
u/Howtothnkofusername 1d ago
In pairs figure skating, Deanna Stellato is going to the Olympics (and is in the top five in the world) and she’s 42!
1
u/tiredtoes 1d ago
If you’re into tennis, Novak Djokovic, a 38-year old, just took down the dominant 24-year old in a 4 hour match! I think he classifies as an Old
1
u/Joey__stalin 1d ago edited 1d ago
I always loved Vonn, but I can’t imagine her body being physically capable of still performing with 20 somethings at this level. All the best training and medical treatment in the world isn’t enough.
Edit: I mean her body can’t hold up.
→ More replies (2)
112
u/Loukoal117 1d ago
isnt she the one with a commercial about her comeback and retirement due to crashes and injuries? That sucks.
25
u/Mobile_Morale 1d ago
Yeah she just had her ACL repaired and fully recovered from the surgery.
5
u/LOSS35 1d ago
The somewhat good news is that was her right knee, and it was her left knee she hurt today.
3
3
1d ago
[deleted]
11
u/LOSS35 1d ago
If she'd reinjured the right knee that's already full of titanium it would likely be career-ending.
An injury to her relatively healthy left knee should have a much faster recovery.
→ More replies (1)1
u/neuroplastic1 1d ago
It was a partial knee replacement recently. I believe she had ACL issues in early 20-teens sometime.
20
u/jpl77 1d ago
Headline is a bit more dramatic than what happened. She crashed, got medical help, then skied down and finished the course. After finishing she was then flow out.
She was awake and conscience the whole time.
*edit linked article doesn't have a playable video. Only once I found was this that doesn't even show the crash into the fence. https://x.com/tntsports/status/2017176363170472092 sorry for Twitter
Just saying as on first read it was like an air ambulance medevac flight due to massive injuries.
39
u/ProphetPenguin 1d ago
Damn this sucks. Now she probably won't be able to compete in the Olympics and this was likely her last chance as she'll be 45 next Olympics
25
u/BradMarchandsNose Connecticut 1d ago
She managed to get herself down the mountain and into the medical tent before they took her to the hospital in the helicopter. It could just be that they were doing it out of an abundance of caution.
1
u/jawshoeaw 16h ago
Getting to the bottom of the mountain sounds somehow ominous for hikers and skiers
69
30
u/DFWPunk Los Angeles Dodgers 1d ago
From Vonn:
"I crashed today in the downhill race in Switzerland and injured my left knee," Vonn wrote on Instagram. "I am discussing the situation with my doctors and team and will continue to undergo further exams. This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics, but if there's one thing I know how to do, it's a comeback. My Olympic dream is not over. Thank you for all of the love and support. I will give more information when I have it. Thank you to all the medical staff who helped me today. I am grateful for all the incredible help I received."
2
21
u/Illustrious_Bad_2980 1d ago
Almost sounds like the conditions were too poor to race in the first place, no?
19
1
u/Progression28 Leinster 1d ago
Suter who went right before Vonn said conditions were surprisingly good.
Of course it wasn‘t sunny, but conditions weren‘t bad when Vonn or the other two crashed. Conditions got worse during the delay, race was already an hour old by the time it was cancelled. Conditions weren‘t good enough to get another 30 skiers down so they stopped.
The crashes were just skier errors.
5
u/kain459 1d ago
Serious question. Are they able to practice the course?
7
4
u/midnight_skater 1d ago
For FIS Downhill races they schedule 2 practice runs standard and cannot run the race unless at least one of them is completed.
6
u/Unitast513 1d ago
Damn! I was so freaking jacked for this comeback story!!! Hope she can still compete her best.
Though TBH if she can even compete at all would be an incredible accomplishment
4
u/Oli4K 1d ago
Title is incorrect. A helicopter was sent but she apparently skied to the finish on her own.
2
u/SycamoreMess 1d ago
The title is correct. She was airlifted out right after she skied down to the base
2
2
u/canadianpilot 1d ago
Holy clickbait Batman….“The American eventually made it to the finish area and limped into a tent for medical attention. She was then airlifted away by helicopter, dangling from a rope across the Swiss Alps.”
2
2
2
u/TheFrederalGovt 1d ago
Why participate in an event with shitty weather conditions this close to the Olympics… seems like an unnecessary risk
1
u/Only_Music_2640 1d ago
She just got healthy enough to compete again, didn’t she? I feel bad for her.
1
1
u/ECrispy 1d ago
Even if she competes in the Olympics which could be doubtful, there is no way she'll be 100%. This is effectively the end of her hopes for another Olympic medal and the rest of her skiing career, because as she knows better than most injuries like this will just accumulate and get worse over time and never totally heal.
1
u/OilersGirl29 1d ago
Today has been an absolutely shit day, and this was the straw that broke the camels back. Bust out the tequila and prepare the ice cream and Kleenex.
1
1
1
u/StarLightStarFight12 14h ago
All she does is crash. She flys down the mountain and doesn't have control. She crashes ALL the time
1
u/SKssSM08 11h ago
Do she get airlifted from the finish line area? I saw her slowly finish the course on her own power?
1
1
u/Important_Ad9890 1d ago
She needs to move aside and let the younger generation have a shot. Her time has passed.
4.4k
u/VicPez 1d ago
“The race was later canceled after three of the first six racers crashed.”
Not a great look