'Stop the nonsense': World divided over Lindsey Vonn's horror Olympic crash days after ACL rupture
Rafael Nadal is among the many who've praised the courage of Lindsey Vonn and sent the American skiing legend their best wishes after a sickening crash at Milano Cortina resulted in her being airlifted to hospital with a broken leg.
Inevitably, many have reacted with criticism to the crash suffered in the final of the women's downhill in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Sunday, declaring it was negligent of Vonn to compete only nine days after rupturing the ACL in her left knee.
Many have teed off at Vonn's support crew, arguing the 41-year-old's team had failed in their duty of care to protect an injured athlete from her own iron-willed toughness.
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Some have no sympathy, and some feel sorry for Vonn's American teammate, Breezy Johnson, whose gold-medal win has been reduced to a secondary story line by the awful scenes.
Many of Vonn's supporters have said the crash had nothing to do with her injured knee: that she had simply clipped a gate with her right shoulder and gone tumbling, rather than crashing as a result of her busted knee.
Another point — perhaps one not considered by Vonn's critics — was the fateful run was not her first since the disastrous crash in Switzerland on the cusp of the Olympics, in which she destroyed her knee in a World Cup meet.
Prior to launching herself down the mountain in the Olympic final, Vonn, the downhill gold medallist at Vancouver 2010, had successfully completed two official training runs on the same course.
In fact, the US golden girl had clocked the third-fastest time in the last of the official training sessions, zooming through the course in one minute, 38.28 seconds.
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The moment Lindsey Vonn clipped a gate with her right shoulder. AP
"It's not negligence," American sports medicine doctor Brian Sutterer wrote on X.
"Elite sports medicine like this comes with a different level of risk/reward. Lindsey knew the risk and is an adult.
"The medical staffs [sic] job is to assess her function beforehand. Her jumping, rehab, range of motion, etc. THATS [sic] the safety screen.
"... They don't just blindly say 'yea [sic] whatever screw it go race'. They progress her rehab and function and see how she protects herself with increasing demand.
"At the end of the day, it's not crazy to let her race."
Former Australian tennis professional Rennae Stubbs went harder, telling Vonn's critics to "stop with the nonsense".
The naysayers, on the other hand, have said her ruptured ACL was a factor in the crash, whether directly or indirectly.
Her dodgy knee affected her balance, or sewed seeds of doubt in her mind, or both, the critics have said.
Lindsey Vonn crashing, left, and being airlifted to hospital. Olympic Broadcasting Services/AP
"Yes I believe the recently torn left ACL played a role in this crash, either directly or indirectly," American sports medicine doctor Jesse Morse wrote on X.
"Likely having to do with stability and balance."
French Olympic biathlon champion Lou Jeanmonnot also chimed in.
"At first I thought, 'That's badass, she's impressive, she has real aura'," she said.
"But in the end there's nothing to be proud of either, because health must come before sport.
"As athletes, we shouldn't send younger people the message that we can push through pain at the expense of our health."
Nadal, Spain's 22-time grand slam tennis champion, said of Vonn on X: "You are a great inspiration and an example of perseverance. Stay strong and get well soon!"
Vonn's sister Karin applauded her, telling the NBC: "She dared greatly, and she put it all out there."
Former British swimmer Sharron Davies, a silver medallist in the women's 400m medley at the 1980 Olympics, also leapt to the defence of Vonn.
"For those of you criticising her decision, it was 'her' decision to make," Davies wrote on X.
"If she had not competed she would have always wondered.
"It's the sign of many superstar athletes that they often finish on a disappointment because it's hard to stop the thing you love.
"I wish her a speedy recovery."
Popular Formula 1 personality Martin Brundle wrote on X: "Heal well Lindsey Vonn. What an incredibly brave, determined, and relentless competitor, you have my absolute respect."
Lindsey Vonn being airlifted off the slopes. Nine
Days out from the Games, Vonn had fronted a packed press conference room in Cortina and revealed she would plough ahead with her Olympic campaign despite her ruptured ACL.
"My knee is not swollen, and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete on Sunday," said Vonn, who made the first of her five Olympic appearances way back in 2002 at Salt Lake City, aged 17.
"So 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.
"But I know there's still a chance. And as long as there's a chance, I will try.
"I will do everything in my power to be in the starting gate."
Vonn, understandably, is yet to speak after her crash at the Olympics — a crash that led to her being eased into what looked to be a body bag and airlifted off the slopes by helicopter.
The vision of the enclosed stretcher and an emergency worker dangling several body lengths below the helicopter as it took flight, passing some of the most rugged mountains in the world, is extraordinary.
US Ski and Snowboard released a statement, saying: "Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians."
Two members of the Australian team are vowing to compete despite carrying knee injuries of their own: skiers Daisy Thomas and Laura Peel.
Thomas, taking to the slopes at Milano Cortina just six weeks after suffering an ACL rupture, crashed while training for slopestyle on Friday.
The 18-year-old withdrew from the women's slopestyle competition but remains determined to compete in the big air event, beginning on Sunday (AEDT).
Peel, 36, suffered what the Australian Olympic Committee described as a "significant knee injury" in Switzerland last week.
Despite that, she remains hopeful of competing in the women's aerial skiing, starting next Tuesday.
Australian viewers will be watching on with a tinge of anxiety if and when Thomas and Peel suit up for competition, especially after the horror encountered by Vonn.
