Crans Montana, Switzerland — Lindsey Vonn said in a statement on social media her “Olympic dream is not over” after a fall during her final run before the Milan Cortina Games left her limping and keeping weight on her left knee.
Vonn lost control during a jump during a World Cup race and became tangled in the safety nets at the top of the course.
She finally got up after receiving medical attention and carefully walked away, removing her left knee and using her poles to stabilize herself. She then put her skis back on but stopped to check her left knee.
Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP via Getty Images 
Vonn finally reached the finish area Friday and limped to a tent to receive medical treatment. Before entering the tent, Vonn had an anxious expression on her face and her eyes were closed during a long embrace with teammate Jacquelin Wiles.
The accident happened exactly a week before the opening ceremony of Milan Cortina. Hours later, Vonn wrote on Instagram that she had injured her left knee and was “discussing the situation” with her doctors and team.
“This is a very difficult result one week before the Olympics… but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback,” Vonn wrote. She said she would continue to undergo further tests and “give more information when I have it.”
Vonn thanked fans for their “love and support” as well as medical staff for their “incredible help.” She also paid tribute to Norwegian skier Marte Monsen, who also fell during the event. Austrian skier Nina Ortlieb also fell.
Ortlieb crashed in the same area as Vonn and Monsen hit the nets just before the finish and had to be taken away in a sled. The race was delayed after these two accidents. But then two runners – Wiles and Corrine Suter, the Olympic champion, finished their race. The race was canceled after Vonn crashed. Wiles was leading the race when it was canceled.
Frenchwoman Romane Miradoli, who completed her race, said visibility was problematic due to snowfall.
“You can’t see,” Miradoli said, “and it’s bumpy everywhere.”
Asked if it was dangerous, Miradoli added: “We just couldn’t see well.”
Vonn, 41, has been the top downhiller on the circuit this season with two wins and three other podiums, having returned last season after a partial titanium replacement on his right knee. Last month, Vonn raced to an incredibly quick victory in a World Cup descent in St. Moritz to claim his first victory in almost eight years – and the first in his return with titanium implants in his right knee after a five-year retirement.
Vonn’s first Olympic race will be the women’s downhill on February 8. She also planned to compete in the super-G and the new team combined event at the Games.
Women’s skiing at the Olympics will take place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds the record of 12 World Cup victories.
Vonn also planned to compete in a super-G in Crans-Montana on Saturday in what would have been her final race before the Games.
Vonn had recorded the fastest time at the first checkpoint, then performed an off-balance jump, raising her left arm and pole in the air in an attempt to regain her balance. Then, as she tried to brake, Vonn spun around and ended up in the net.
Vonn has had numerous accidents during her career. One of his worst performances came at the 2013 World Championships in Schladming, Austria, during a super-G that also took place in difficult conditions. Vonn then had to be airlifted from the course and tore her right knee. She returned the following season, was injured again and missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
