Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy - Lindsey Vonn had surgery on a fracture of her left leg following her heavy fall in the Winter Olympics downhill, the hospital said in a statement given to Italian media on Sunday.

"In the afternoon, [Vonn] underwent orthopaedic surgery to stabilize a fracture of the left leg," the Ca' Foncello hospital in Treviso said.

Vonn had been trying to claim the fourth Olympic medal of her career despite suffering a ruptured ACL in her left knee just over a week ago, but her race ended in agony after just 13 seconds.

The 41-year-old hit the snow face first, soon after pushing off from the start gate, and then rolled down the slope with her skis still attached.

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Vonn's American teammate Breezy Johnson, who ultimately won the downhill, said that she felt "heartache" at the crash, which completely changed the complexion of the race.

Already the reigning world downhill champion, Johnson finished in front of Germany's Emma Aicher by just 0.04s, with Italy's speed specialist Sofia Goggia taking bronze in front of home fans.

Johan Eliasch, the president of the International Ski Federation, who was watching the race in Cortina, said Vonn's crash was "tragic, but it's ski racing, I'm afraid".

"And I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport because this race has been the talk of the Games and it's put our sport in the best possible light," added Eliasch.

Kirsty Coventry, the head of the International Olympic Committee, said in a message to Vonn that "we're all thinking of you".

"You are an incredible inspiration, and will always be an Olympic champion," she added.

Vonn had insisted that she could not only compete but win against the world's best women skiers, some of whom are nearly half her age.

Vonn said ahead of the Games that she was planning on also competing in the team combined event on Tuesday and the super-G two days later.

But that now looks unlikely, a potential long lay-off perhaps heralding the end of her comeback to skiing in her early 40s.

"That definitely was the last thing we wanted to see," Vonn's sister Karin Kildow told NBC.

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"She always goes 110%, there's never anything less, so I know she put her whole heart into it, and sometimes things happen. It's a very dangerous sport."

Vonn retired in 2019 but returned to competition in November 2024 following surgery to partially replace her right knee to end persistent pain, and had been in great form before her previous crash in Crans Montana.

She had finished on the podium in every previous World Cup downhill race this season, including two victories in St. Moritz and Zauchensee, and claimed two more top-three finishes in the super-G.

But retirement looms for Vonn following a disastrous end to one of the biggest stories of the Winter Olympics.