Injured Lindsey Vonn drops out of lead in season downhill standings

Injured Lindsey Vonn drops out of lead in season downhill standings

Lindsey Vonn's time atop the downhill standings is over.

USA TODAY Sports

Italy's Laura Pirovano and Germany's Emma Aicher bumped the injured Vonn down to third in the season standings after the second downhill at the World Cup in Val di Fassa, Italy. Pirovano now leads the race for the season title after her second downhill win in as many days with 436 points. Aicher is 28 points behind with 408 points.

Vonn, who has 400 points, could slip even further with one race still to go. Germany's Kira Weidle-Winkelmann (351), Austria's Cornelia Huetter (344) andOlympic downhill champion Breezy Johnson(333) are also within 100 points of Vonn and could surpass her at the World Cup finals later this month.

Vonn saidin an Instagram postFriday, March 6, thatshe knew this was coming.

"I didn't want to win the title to prove anything to anyone. I did it because I knew I could. I just wish I had a chance to fight until the end to try and get it…" Vonn wrote.

Vonn is currently recuperating from theserious injuriesshe suffered ina crash during the Olympic downhilllast month. She has acomplex tibial fracture, a tibial plateau fracture and fractured fibular head, all in her left leg, and also fractured her right ankle.

Vonn also saidshe had compartment syndrome. If not for her longtime orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Tom Hackett, Vonn said she could have lost her leg.

Advertisement

"Compartment syndrome is when you have so much trauma to one area of your body, that there's too much blood, and it gets stuck, and it basically crushes everything in the compartment," Vonn said in an Instagram post on Feb. 23. "All the muscle and nerves and tendons, it all kind of dies. And Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg. He saved my leg from being amputated."

Vonn claimed the No. 1 bib bywinning the season's first downhill, in December. She was on the podium in every downhill race, and took a sizeable lead into theMilano Cortina Olympics.

A season downhill title would have been Vonn's ninth, tyingMikaela Shiffrin's record for most in a single discipline. Making it even more remarkable is it would have come at 41, and after Vonn had been retired for almost six years.

Vonn also was skiing with a partial knee replacement, a first for an elite-level skier.

"At the beginning of the season no one would have ever believed I would be even close to this position. And I bet people would have laughed if it was even suggested. But winning the title was my goal," Vonn wrote.

But with four races still left after the Games, the title was still up for grabs and her absence opened the door for other skiers.

Pirovano, who was sixth in the Olympic downhill, made the biggest move, earning 200 points just this weekend with her two wins. Aicher, the silver medalist in Milano Cortina, was poised to take the lead from Vonn after a fourth-place finish last weekend and a second in the first downhill on Friday, March 6. But a 12th-place finish Saturday, March 7, has her chasing Pirovano now.

Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women's Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic. Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women's Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic. Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women's Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic. Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women's Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic. Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women's Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic. Lindsey Vonn of Team United States crashes during the Women's Downhill on day two of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic. A jumbotron shows U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn crashing in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. Snoop Dogg reacts to the crash by American skier Lindsey Vonn during the women's downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. A Team USA supporter reacts after Lindsey Vonn crashed and was evacuated by helicopter in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. A helicopter arrives on the ski course to airlift Lindsey Vonn following her crash in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. Fans of Team USA react after watching Lindsey Vonn crash in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. Concerned fans watch and wait after Lindsey Vonn's crash in the women's downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. Fans react after watching Lindsey Vonn crash in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. Spectators react after Lindsey Vonn crashed in the women's downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. A helicopter airlifts Lindsey Vonn from the course after her crash in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. <p style=Lindsey Vonn supporters react after Vonn's crash during the women's downhill race at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026.

" style="max-width:100%; height:auto; border-radius:6px; margin:10px 0;" loading="lazy" /> Snoop Dogg reacts after United States skier Lindsey Vonn crashed in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. Fans applaud as a mountain rescue helicopter takes Lindsey Vonn after her crash during the women's downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. A helicopter airlifts Lindsey Vonn from the course after her crash in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026. A helicopter carries U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn after her crash in the women's downhill event at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Centre in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Feb. 8, 2026.

See terrible second crash for Lindsey Vonn

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Olympic crash also costs Lindsey Vonn season downhill title

 

ALPHA MAG © 2015 | Distributed By My Blogger Themes | Designed By Templateism.com