Team USA wins first medal at Winter Olympics after | Sports News

Lindsey Vonn dominated headlines at the Winter Olympics on Sunday following a devastating crash that required her to be airlifted to hospital – prompting an rapid response from her gold-medal-winning teammate.

The 41-year-old Vonn endured a terrifying accident during the alpine snowboarding girls’s downhill occasion, showing to turn into airborne earlier than crashing at an awkward angle along with her skis pointing within the unsuitable direction. The incident got here simply days after she fully ruptured her ACL, raising questions on why she was cleared to compete at all.

Following a important delay, competitors resumed and her teammate Breezy Johnson claimed gold with a time of 1:36:10. She turned solely the second American girl to seize the downhill gold medal – following in Vonn’s footsteps.

Within moments of her victory being confirmed, a tribute message for Vonn was broadcast over Team USA’s radio system. “Amazing gold medal. So close for Jackie,” the message said, acknowledging Jacqueline Wiles, who narrowly missed the rostrum in fourth place. “Huge bummer for Lindsey. Hope she’s okay. Congratulations to everybody.”

Johnson’s triumph marked Team USA’s inaugural medal at the Milan Cortina video games, with expectations high for added success from a gifted crop of athletes.

The emotion proved overwhelming for Johnson on the rostrum because the national anthem echoed round her. She sang alongside to the Star Spangled Banner with tears streaming down her cheeks after receiving her gold medal.

But for Vonn, her Olympic journey has ended, and questions stay about whether or not she’ll compete again. After a five-year hiatus, the 41-year-old had mounted an spectacular comeback, claiming World Cup downhill victory six years after her earlier outing.

Her situation stays unclear, though stories point out she was crying out in agony following her fall. With her ACL already fully ruptured, the total extent of her accidents awaits affirmation.

Team USA’s official assertion concerning Vonn’s accident was transient, stating solely: “Lindsey Vonn fell in the Olympic downhill and will be evaluated by medical staff.”

Former Team GB skier Chemmy Alcott, commentating for the BBC in England, instructed that seeing Team USA declare gold would have been Vonn’s final want.

“If Lindsey couldn’t win today then the thing she would want most is that the American flag is at the top of the podium,” she remarked. “Breezy didn’t ski the Tofane, she absolutely disarmed it.

“You cannot take something away from Breezy Johnson,” she added. “She has gone via some horrendous accidents too and are available back. She deserves to be on prime. We need to salute, have fun and provides credit to the ladies who got here after Vonn’s crash too, to get on to the rostrum.”

She further emphasized the extreme risk Vonn took racing with a torn ACL, and revealed that officials had to blast music through the loudspeakers to break through the eerie silence. “I really feel guilty that I’m this emotional. I simply by no means believed it might finish in a clump at the aspect of the piste, not shifting,” Alcott said.

“What we noticed that the highest of the piste is absolutely exhausting for a match athlete, she simply had her proper knee. It is brutal, take into consideration her household, her group and herself.

“We have to be realistic. The risk was really high, the risk she takes when she falls will double that, her body will not be able to take that. There is clapping and there is hope that she would be okay but they have put up some background music because it is uncomfortable.”