Cortina D'Ampezzo, Italy - Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the women's downhill at the Winter Olympics on Sunday, failing in her audacious bid to medal in her favored discipline at the Milan-Cortina Games.

The American star had been trying to claim her fourth Olympic medal despite suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee just over a week ago, but her race ended early in Cortina d'Ampezzo.

She cried in anguish and pain after her awful fall high up the course, medical staff surrounding the distraught 41-year-old on the piste.

Vonn hit the firm snow face first after just 13 seconds of her descent. She then rolled down the slope with her skis still attached, which could likely cause further serious damage to her knee.

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Vonn's Olympic dream now lies in tatters just seconds into her brave effort to achieve the seemingly impossible, an attempt which ended with her being taken away in a helicopter as fans in the stands saluted her with loud applause.

Her teammate Breezy Johnson held her face in shock from the leader's chair, the world downhill champion in front of Germany's Emma Aicher by just 0.04sec following her powerful run.

After a superb 2025-2026 season, Vonn seemed in pole position to add to her Olympic gold from the 2010 Vancouver Games.

But all her plans were thrown into disarray when she crashed in a World Cup race at Crans Montana, Switzerland, on January 30.

In a press conference at the Olympics, she admitted she had ruptured her ACL in the crash, but insisted she could still compete.

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"This is not obviously what I had hoped for.... I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren't the same as it stands today," she said then. "But I know there's still a chance, and as long as there's a chance, I will try."

She even batted aside those who doubted her ability to perform with such an injury, and took to social media to fire back at a sports doctor for doubting her ACL tear was "fresh" from Crans Montana.

"My ACL was fully functioning until last Friday. Just because it seems impossible to you doesn't mean it's not possible," Vonn said. "And yes, my ACL is 100% ruptured. Not 80% or 50%. It's 100% gone."