Officials defend conditions at pre-Olympic race after Vonn crash

Crans-Montana event was cancelled after Linsey Vonn was third of first six skiers to crash, but race was deemed safe.Published On 31 Jan 2026Lindsey Vonn crashed out of a World Cup downhill on Friday that was hazardous to her Olympic medal hopes, though judged safe by race officials and team coaches.Safe, it was agreed, at the place and exact time that Vonn lost control when landing a jump and spun into an awkward slide into the safety nets, injuring her left knee.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4All to know about the ICC T20 World Cup 2026 stadiumslist 2 of 4Missing statue of golf legend Ballesteros found chopped in pieces in Spainlist 3 of 4Bangladesh approves shooting team India tour, days after T20 World Cup banlist 4 of 4T20 World Cup 2026: Teams, format, venues and full match scheduleend of list“It was probably good light in the spot where she completely missed the line and did the mistake,” World Cup race director Peter Gerdol said.Gerdol spoke after the late-afternoon meeting of race and team leaders to debrief the day and detail the next morning’s schedule.At the meeting in Crans-Montana – starting minutes after Vonn posted on social media her Olympic downhill dream next weekend was alive – a broad agreement was that the race had been safe. Some objected to it being cancelled at all.About 25 minutes after Vonn crashed as the No 6 starter, with the race still paused, Gerdol and the race jury called it off for safety reasons.“I feel for those guys, they have a tough job,” United States head coach Paul Kristofic said.Norway’s Marte Monsen waves to the crowd after being stretchered off following a crash during her run [Romina Amato/Reuters]By 10:50am local time on an overcast day in the Swiss Alps, the light had dimmed since the 10am start and was forecast to get worse. It did.The race may have seemed unsafe because three of the six starters failed to finish, and even leader Jacqueline Wiles barely made a tight final turn that caused one crash.Still, the Austria coach said his racer Nina Ortlieb’s exit as the first starter, at the same spot as Vonn, was caused by a poor racing line, not poor light.