Lindsey Vonn airlifted from course after crash in final downhill before Olympics | Lindsey Vonn

Lindsey Vonn crashed on the final World Cup downhill run before the Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina on Friday, leaving the American skier limping and clutching her left knee as organizers abandoned the race amid deteriorating conditions.

The 41-year-old lost control after landing a jump at the upper part of the course in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, skidding sideways into the safety net as snow fell steadily and visibility deteriorated. Vonn’s airbag deployed upon impact and she remained on the ground for several moments while medical personnel tended to her on the track.

Vonn finally got up and was able to ski off, but he did so carefully. She repeatedly took weight off her left leg, using her poles to stabilize herself, and stopped several times during the descent to check her knee. In the finish area, she was greeted by teammate Jacqueline Wiles, the two sharing a long embrace before Vonn limped into a medical tent for further evaluation. She was then flown by helicopter from the finish area, suspended by a rope, as she was carried across the Swiss Alps.

Vonn’s coach this season, double Olympic champion Aksel Lund Svindal, told Reuters: “She has some pain so it’s better to do a few checks, the physio did a few checks, they looked OK but there were some things he wasn’t 100 per cent sure about so it was good to get them checked.”

Race officials canceled the descent shortly after Vonn’s fall, with three of the first six skiers falling in difficult conditions on a course already shortened due to weather. Austrian Nina Ortlieb crashed in the same upper section as Vonn but was able to escape on skis, while Norwegian Marte Monsen hit the nets near the bottom of the course and was taken away on a stretcher with facial injuries.

Frenchwoman Romane Miradoli, one of the few skiers to complete her race, said visibility was a major problem. “You can’t see and it’s bumpy everywhere,” she said. Asked if the conditions were dangerous, Miradoli added: “We just couldn’t see well.”

Vonn had been the sixth starter and the first of the seeded runners out of the gate. She was in the lead at the first checkpoint before performing an off-balance jump, raising her left arm and pole high in an attempt to regain control. As she tried to brake, she turned around and slid against the guardrail.

The accident occurred exactly a week before the opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Games, where Vonn is scheduled to compete in the women’s downhill on February 8. She is also entered in the super-G and the new team combined event. The women’s Alpine events will take place in Cortina d’Ampezzo, a venue where Vonn has enjoyed some of the greatest success of her career, with a record 12 World Cup victories.

Any injury at this point would be a major concern for Team USA and for Olympic organizers, who have touted Vonn as one of the Games’ standout stars. A U.S. Ski and Snowboard spokesman said Vonn was being evaluated after the fall.

Despite the uncertainty, Vonn sought to play down fears that her Olympic bid was over, insisting she still hoped to compete in Cortina.

“I fell today during a downhill race in Switzerland and injured my left knee,” Vonn wrote on social media. “My Olympic dream is not over.”

She added that she continues to undergo medical evaluations, saying she is “discussing the situation with my doctors and my team” and will continue to undergo further examinations.

Vonn has been in exceptional form this season, leading the Downhill World Cup standings with five podiums in five races, including two victories. His performances underpinned an improbable return to the top of the sport after a partial knee replacement on his right leg less than two years ago. She came out of retirement last season after almost six years away from competition and described her physical condition as the best it had been in years.

The fall also brought back memories of a career marked by serious injuries. Vonn tore ligaments in her right knee in a high-speed fall at the 2013 World Championships and was airlifted off the course. She suffered further damage the following season and therefore missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics. During her career, she also broke arms and legs and suffered a concussion.

Despite these setbacks, Vonn remains one of the most decorated skiers in history. She won Olympic gold in downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games, eight years after making her Olympic debut as a teenager in Salt Lake City. Like her American teammate Mikaela Shiffrin, she is among the most successful World Cup runners of all time.

Three training races for the Olympic downhill are scheduled in Cortina d’Ampezzo from February 5-7, with the medal race scheduled for the following day.

“This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics,” Vonn wrote. “But if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s comeback. It’s not over until it’s over.”

Friday’s race in Crans-Montana was scheduled to be the last competitive downhill before Olympic training begins next week, with the first official training downhill scheduled for Wednesday. The World Cup leg took place in a subdued atmosphere after a New Year’s Eve bar fire in the resort town killed 40 people and injured more than 100.