Lindsey Vonn was airlifted off an Olympic mountain. The story behind it matters.

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Punters watched on in anticipation as American alpine skier Lindsey Vonn began careening down the slopes in Cortina d'Ampezzo on Sunday morning in what she hoped to be a heroic Winter Olympics comeback.

Just seconds later, Vonn, 41, crashed into the snow — her screams audible over the television coverage, those close to her watching helplessly from the sidelines.

Global headlines captured the moment Vonn, who had recently ruptured her ACL, was winched by helicopter from the slopes to be airlifted to hospital for surgery on what is reported to be a broken leg.

Vonn has since had surgery on her broken leg. Image: Getty.

While the brutal crash has made headlines around the world, there's much more to her story.

Vonn wasn't naive. She knew the odds were stacked against her heading into what would become her ill-fated Olympic ski jump.

The decorated athlete came out of retirement in 2024 after a partial knee replacement, eyeing off an Olympic comeback — only to "completely rupture" her ACL just a week out from the big event.

But she wanted "one last Olympic downhill run".

After extensive physical therapy and some successful practice jumps, she declared her intent to compete. She received criticism, with people labelling her "selfish" and claiming she "stole" the place of another athlete by competing.

"As long as there's a chance, I will try," she said at a press conference ahead of Sunday's event, reflecting on her most recent injury.

"I will do everything in my power to be in that starting gate."

And that, she did.

It's an attitude to her sport that the 41-year-old athlete has displayed for a lifetime.

A career peppered with injuries.

The athlete put on her first pair of skis when she was just three years old.

With her father and grandfather by her side, she learnt the way of the slopes in Minnesota before graduating to new terrain.

By the age of seven, she had competed in her first race and by nine, she took her love for the sport overseas for her first international competition.

By the time Vonn was 14 years old, she became the first American woman to win the acclaimed Trofeo Topolino in Italy and in 2002, aged just 17, Vonn made her Olympic debut in Salt Lake City.

She became known as a "speed queen" in her sport and gained a winning reputation, claiming some impressive achievements over the years.

With one gold and two bronze Olympic gold medals and dozens of World Cup victories under her belt, she is one of the most decorated alpine skiers in history.

But alongside the victories, there have been multiple setbacks.

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A post shared by L I N D S E Y • V O N N (@lindseyvonn)

Vonn's career has been marred by several crashes and injuries.

At the 2006 Torino Olympics, she was hospitalised with a bruised hip after a horrific training crash. She later went straight from the hospital room to compete in four of her five events.

In 2010, she won a gold medal at the Vancouver Winter Olympics despite "excruciating" shin pain.

Another crash, in 2013, saw her tear her ACL and sustain joint damage, forcing her to withdraw from the Sochi Olympics in 2014.

Vonn has long been known to display resilience and push through pain for the love of her sport.

Eventually, however, injuries got the best of her. Chronic arthritis in her knee saw Vonn bow out of professional skiing in 2019.

"My body is broken beyond repair and it isn't letting me have the final season I dreamed of," she said in an emotional Instagram post at the time.

"My body is screaming at me to stop and it's time for me to listen."

Stepping out of retirement.

Vonn stepped away from the slopes for six years before a partial knee replacement gave her a glimmer of hope to attend the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

She came out of retirement in late 2024 to a string of successes, winning three World Cup events.

She was in good standing for the Olympics before another ACL injury, just a week out from the Olympics, raised question marks.

Criticism ahead of Olympics comeback.

As always, Vonn's determination has been undying even among an outpouring of criticism.

Some argued that, at 41, Vonn was too old to be racing, while others questioned her decision to compete while injured.

But Vonn remained steadfast in her mission for one last Olympic downhill run.

Ahead of the event on Sunday, Vonn shared a statement to her Instagram, explaining her determination.

"Tomorrow: One last Olympic downhill run," she wrote in anticipation."Just getting to these Olympics has been a journey, and one that some did not believe in from the start. I retired for 6 years, and because of a partial knee replacement, I had the chance to compete one more time."

She noted that everyone seemed to be asking her why she chose to compete again.

Her answer was simple: "I just love ski racing."

"I will stand in the starting gate tomorrow and know I am strong. Know that I believe in myself. Know that the odds are stacked against me with my age, no ACL, and a titanium knee — but know that I still believe.

"And usually, when the odds are stacked against me the most, I pull the best of what's inside me out. "I will race tomorrow in my final Olympic Downhill and while I can't guarantee a good result, I can guarantee I will give it everything I have. But no matter what happens, I have already won."

Vonn's final Olympic event may not have ended how she had hoped, but there is no denying she stuck to her word and gave it her all.

And as an athlete who has always valued her own resilience, it's something she would no doubt be proud of.

As she reflected on her retirement with an Instagram post in 2019, she had one simple request.

"Please let my story be of comebacks, victories and even injuries, but do not tell my story as one of failures or unreached goals."

That request likely still stands.

Feature image: Instagram/@lindseyvonn.