Vonn crashes, limps off in final test run, week before Olympics - ESPN

CRANS-MONTANA, Switzerland — Lindsey Vonn crashed in her final downhill race before the Winter Olympics on Friday and was airlifted from the course for medical checks, a troubling turn for the 41-year-old U.S. ski star just a week before the Milan Cortina Games.

Vonn — the third skier to crash in the World Cup race in Crans-Montana — lost control when landing a jump and ended up tangled in the safety nets on the upper portion of the course.

She got up after receiving medical attention for about 5 minutes, seemingly in pain and using her poles to steady herself. Vonn then skied slowly to the finish line, stopping a couple of times on the way down and clutching her left knee.

The race, which was held in difficult conditions with low visibility, was canceled after Vonn's crash.

It wasn't immediately clear how the crash would impact Vonn's Olympic preparations. The American, who was expected to be one of the biggest stars of the Games, limped into a tent for medical attention before being airlifted away by helicopter, dangling from a hoist cable with two people attending her.

Before she entered the tent, Vonn had an anxious expression on her face and her eyes were closed during a long embrace with teammate Jacqueline Wiles, who was leading the race when it was canceled.

«I know she hurt her knee, I talked to her,» the International Ski and Snowboard Federation CEO Urs Lehmann told reporters in the finish area. «I don't know if it's really heavy and (if) she won't miss the Olympics. Let's wait for what the doctors are saying.»

Vonn made a stunning comeback last season at age 40 after nearly six years away from ski racing. Skiing with a partial titanium implant in her right knee, she has been the circuit's leading downhiller