Wyoming
US ski star Lindsey Vonn crashes in Olympic downhill race
Updated February 8, 2026 at 5:54 AM MST
CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy — American alpine skiing superstar Lindsey Vonn crashed badly just 13 seconds into today’s women’s downhill race, one of the most eagerly anticipated events of the 2026 Winter Olympics. This ends her dream of coming back from retirement to win another Olympic medal.
Vonn had successfully completed two training runs in the days leading up to the race. But on Sunday, she crashed hard coming off the first jump of the course and had to be airlifted by helicopter off the mountain.
The crash was initiated as Vonn passed through the fourth gate of the race. Her right arm caught the gate and sent her off the jump unbalanced, sending her into the air spinning to her right.
“It looked like Lindsey had incredible speed out of that turn and she hooked her arm and it’s just over, just like that” – Bella Wright, US Ski Team
She landed hard on the snow on her right side, her skis perpendicular to the slope, and tumbled. The shocked grandstand fell into silence as a medical team tended to her for more than 10 minutes.
Whether Vonn is injured or how badly is not yet known at this time.
“It’s heartbreaking. We were up there, we watched it live. Things just happen so quickly in this sport,” said Bella Wright, a ski racer on the U.S. team.
“It looked like Lindsey had incredible speed out of that turn and she hooked her arm and it’s just over, just like that,” Wright added. “After all the preparation, after years of hard work and rehabilitation…it’s the last thing you want to see for Lindsey.”
Jacquelyn Martin/AP / AP
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AP
“She’s an inspiration to all of us”
The 41-year-old Team USA star, who had already had a decorated career when she retired in 2019, was attempting to stage a comeback within a comeback:
After launching out of retirement straight into the stratosphere of the World Cup downhill standings, she wanted to cap it all off with an Olympic medal barely a week after tearing her ACL.
The downhill race began at 11:30 a.m. local time on the Olimpia delle Tofane ski course in Cortina, a classic and beloved stop on the World Cup circuit.
Cortina has played host to several significant moments of Vonn’s career, including her first ever World Cup podium, and the victory that made her the winningest female skier in World Cup history (a title that now belongs to fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin).
That Cortina is hosting the women’s alpine events at the 2026 Olympics was a key motivator for Vonn, she told reporters last year.
“If it had been anywhere else, I would probably say it’s not worth it,” she said in October. “But for me there’s something special about Cortina that always pulls me back, and it’s pulled me back one last time.”
Vonn’s comeback began with a partial knee replacement in 2024 that installed a titanium implant in her right knee. Before her ACL tear late last month at a race in Switzerland, Vonn’s performance this season had left no room for debate. She was atop the FIS leaderboard with two World Cup wins, bringing her career total to 84, and five other podium finishes.
“She should be really proud of everything she has gone through to get back here,” Wright said. “She’s an inspiration to all of us and she should be really proud. I know it probably doesn’t feel like that right now, but I hope one day she can recognize that.”
Team USA skier Breezy Johnson is another medal contender. The 30-year-old is making her return to the Olympics after badly injuring her knee in a series of crashes shortly before the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing.
Two other American skiers — Jackie Wiles and Bella Wright — are also competing. The Tofane course has been beset by fog and light snow in recent days, leading to delays and cancellations of training runs.
Copyright 2026 NPR
LARAMIE, Wyo. — A bull moose was spotted roaming the streets of Laramie early Tuesday morning before being safely tranquilized and relocated by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Photos from the University of Wyoming Police Department and Laramie residents show the creature curiously wandering through the university campus, where he was tranquilized before heading to a strip mall along Grand Avenue and taking a nap.
“Biologists got the call this morning that the moose was wandering in the UW Apartments neighborhood,” Laramie Region Game and Fish Information and Education specialist Hannah Smith said. “They responded to the scene and were able to dart the moose.”
While he was darted near the apartments, he didn’t stand around and wait for the tranquilizer to take effect. Smith said he worked his way east for about 20 minutes before ending up, coincidentally, in front of Sportsman’s Warehouse.
Lilly Avila, a Laramie resident working at a nearby coffee shop, told Cap City News the animal was sluggishly wandering the parking lot and rubbing against cars before the tranquilizer got to him.
“They brought him to the office and got him cooled down,” Smith said. “They don’t want to be in town. It’s a stressful situation for them, too. They can overheat really easily, so we get them cooled down before we transport them.”
Game and Fish couldn’t say as of Tuesday where the moose came from. Smith said he could have come east from the Pole Mountain area between Laramie and Cheyenne or up the Laramie River from the Snowy Range. Either way, his new home will be around Medicine Bow Mountain.
He also shouldn’t be feeling the effects of the tranquilizer for too much longer. Biologists gave him a reversal drug that should have prepared him to return to the wild.
“He should be pretty normal in terms of the medication. I think, in terms of his day, hopefully he goes back to living his happy moose life munching on some willows and doesn’t go for too many more walkabouts,” Smith said.
Related
Wyoming State Historic Sites Superintendent Sharie Mooney Shada made an appearance on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse to speak on the upcoming Immersion in Crow Culture program at Fort Phil Kearny on July 16.
The event begins at 6 p.m. Thursday, July 16 at the Fort Phil Kearny Interpretive Center.
S. Mooney Shada
The rangers host free, family-friendly evening talks and presentations throughout the summer. Shada said the Native American Student Interpretive Ranger Program has enriched the visitor experience at Fort Phil Kearny. In its fourth year at the fort, the program allows a perspective from the indigenous side of history.
Keep up with events at Fort Phil Kearny by clicking here.
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