United States athletes Lindsey Vonn and Breezy Johnson both made headlines at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics on Sunday. They were for very different reasons, though.
Johnson won the first gold medal for the U.S. after an incredible run in the women’s downhill on Day 2 of the Winter Olympics. It was the first Olympic gold medal as well for the 30-year-old alpine ski racer.
Vonn’s Olympic dream, on the other hand, came to an end on Sunday at the same event. This was after the 41-year-old lost control within seconds of her run. She crashed violently and lay on the ground in pain before medical officials could attend to her. Vonn was eventually airlifted by a rescue helicopter, much to the crowd's dismay.
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Vonn headed into the Olympics with very high hopes. She came out of retirement in 2024 at the age of 40. However, disaster struck just one week before the Winter Olympics began. Vonn tore the ACL in her left knee after crashing in a World Cup race in Switzerland.
Vonn, however, refused to let the injury prevent her from fifth Olympics. She decided to compete with a torn ACL, on top of her surgically repaired right knee.
It was a valiant effort by the decorated skier. Unfortunately, it all came crashing down for her just 13 seconds into her run on Sunday. Vonn was diagnosed with a broken leg and immediately underwent surgery at a nearby hospital.
Johnson addressed Vonn’s crash after the former’s gold medal victory.
"I don't claim to know what she's going through, but I do know what it is to be here, to be fighting for the Olympics and to have this course burn you and to watch those dreams die," Johnson said, via ESPN. "I can't imagine the pain that she's going through, and it's not the physical pain -- we can deal with physical pain -- but the emotional pain is something else."
Johnson was referring to her own injury in 2022. She, too, ruptured her ACL during a training run, which forced her to miss the 2022 Beijing Olympics.
"Lindsey was cheering for me from the helicopter," Johnson added.
Johnson redeemed herself by winning her first gold medal on Sunday. It marked the triumphant pinnacle of a grueling comeback for the Jackson Hole, Wyoming, native.
The same cannot be said for Vonn. What was supposed to be a legendary, unprecedented comeback ended in one of the most unfortunate turns in skiing history.