Lindsey Vonn suffers fractured knee in Soldeu fall
By Mike Patterson
Last Updated: 27/02/16 6:58pm
Lindsey Vonn suffered a hairline fracture to her left knee after a fall in Andorra on Saturday but says she could even be fit to race on Sunday.
The American, who has a history of knee injuries, started well in poor visibility but failed to hold a corner in the latter stages of the course and crashed off the piste in Soldeu.
The race was interrupted for around 10 minutes as Vonn lay on the snow surrounded by medical staff and coaches before being transported off the hill on a ski-stretcher.
The 31-year-old was unable to stand and was taken to an Andorra hospital, but despite saying she would not get a scan on the injury until Monday, Vonn is not ruling out competing in Sunday's super-combined race at the same venue.
"Got caught in the soft snow today and crashed pretty hard. X-rays showed I have a hairline fracture in my left knee and will get an MRI on Monday," Vonn wrote on her Instagram account next to a picture of her knee with a large ice pack on it.
"I will wait and see how I feel tomorrow to decide if I can race. Will keep you updated."
The race had been due to start in mid-morning, but was delayed for three hours because of the difficult conditions, with strong winds and snowfall also forcing organisers to lower the start.
Chasing her fifth title, Vonn is leading the overall World Cup standings and was 23 points clear of Lara Gut of Switzerland ahead of the Soldeu race.
She claimed her 76th World Cup victory last month, taking her closer to the overall record of 86 held by Sweden's Ingemar Stenmark.
The race was won by Italy's Federica Brignone who went out early before the snowfall increased in intensity.
She clocked 57.33secs on a shortened course, 0.13secs clear of American Laurenne Ross and 0.37secs better than Tamara Tippler of Austria.
"When I went down it was really good," Brignone said. "It was not the best conditions for the best racers, but I took advantage of my luck."
Gut could only finish in 16th place, meaning that she took 15 points to move to within eight points of the stricken Vonn in the standings.
