Lindsey Vonn ready for weekend speed races after Thursday’s downhill training run crash in Cortina
Lindsey Vonn is planning to race this weekend in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy despite having crashed in Thursday’s downhill training run. The 40-year-old spoke to FIS Media on Friday morning about the incident, which occurred in the final section of her opening run at the 2026 Winter Olympics venue.
“I’m definitely feeling good after my crash,” Vonn said in an audio file posted to the FIS Alpine Soundcloud website. “A little bit sore, but generally in a great place for the races this weekend. I don’t think my crash had any impact on my expectations for the weekend.”
The World Cup weekend includes a downhill on Saturday and a super-G on Sunday. Vonn has won 12 times on the Olympia delle Tofane course.
“Cortina is a really special place for me,” she told FIS. “So I hope I can put everything together tomorrow (Saturday).”
Vonn was 40th in Friday’s training session. Sofia Goggia, Federica Brignone and Lara Gut-Behrami posted the top-3 times respectively as American Breezy Johnson came through in fourth. After Vonn finished, she reportedly had a “lengthy discussion” with her coach, Patrick Riml, “with her body language showing signs of discomfort,” according to Olympics.com
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Vonn announced her return to the U.S. Ski Team and the World Cup in November. She acted as forerunner at the Birds of Prey World Cup weekend in December. Vonn placed sixth in St. Anton on Jan. 11 — her first downhill in six years — and followed that performance up with a fourth-place stunner in the super-G the next day. She said Friday she is “still trying to find the right setup” with her equipment.
“And that’s definitely something that will be in play this weekend,” Vonn continued. “Again, this is only my fourth race back so I am not expecting anything of myself, only to ski well and enjoy being back in Cortina one more time.”