KERSTIN JOENSSON/AFP via Getty Images
Lindsey Vonn failed to finish the super-G race in her return to the Alpine World Ski Championships on Thursday in Saalbach-Hinterglemm, Austria.
According ESPN, Vonn hooked a gate with her arm, halting her momentum and rendering her unable to complete her run.
Vonn waved to the crowd after the mishap as she made her way down the hill, and she suggested later that she avoided injury, saying: “I am OK. I hit my nerve somehow and I hit the gate and lost feeling in my arm, but it’s coming back slowly.”
One of the most successful skiers of all time, Vonn is an 82-time winner on the World Cup circuit, and she is a two-time World Championships gold medalist and a three-time Olympic medalist, including winning gold in the downhill in 2010.
The 40-year-old from St. Paul, Minnesota, retired in 2019 due to mounting injuries, but she decided in late 2024 that she would make a comeback after undergoing successful knee replacement surgery.
In December, Vonn finished 14th in a World Cup super-G race in St. Moritz, Switzerland, and she followed it up with a sixth-place result in a World Cup downhill race in St. Anton, Austria, last month.
While Vonn has had some positive showings, she has also failed to finish three of the past four races she has competed in.
Vonn will have some opportunities to bounce back from Thursday’s disappointment, as she is scheduled to run in the downhill on Saturday and the team combined event next Tuesday.
Last month, Vonn expressed her desire to make the United States team for the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy.
Vonn has plenty of work to do in order to get into the mix for the Milano Cortina Olympics, which are scheduled to run from Feb. 6 through Feb. 22, 2026.
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