Vonn was the Olympic downhill champion in 2010 and had been hoping for a fairytale ending to her illustrious career.
She retired from the sport in 2019 as the most decorated female skier at the time, having suffered several serious leg injuries.
After having a partial right knee replacement, she announced her shock return to the sport in 2024.
Since then, she had achieved eight podium finishes on the World Cup circuit, including two golds, and had been tipped to win a medal at her fifth and final Olympics.
But despite suffering a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in Switzerland in the last World Cup race before the Games, she was determined to take to the course in Cortina where she had enjoyed so much success.
Reflecting on the crash in an Instagram, external post on Sunday, she said she was “looking forward to the moment when I can stand on the top of the mountain once more”.
“When I think back on my crash, I didn’t stand in the starting gate unaware of the potential consequences. I knew what I was doing. I chose to take a risk,” she added.
“Every skier in that starting gate took the same risk. Because even if you are the strongest person in the world, the mountain always holds the cards.
“I was willing to risk and push and sacrifice for something I knew I was absolutely capable of doing. I will always take the risk of crashing while giving it my all, rather than not ski to my potential and have regret.
“I never want to cross finish line and say,”what if?” And to be perfectly honest, I was stronger physically in that moment than I have been often in the past.”
