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Lindsey Vonn’s father said Monday that he hopes the horrific accident that put the Olympic legend in the hospital at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games marks “the end of her career.”
Alan Kildow told The Associated Press that he wasn’t sure he had anything to say about it. Vonn broke her leg during the final race of the women’s downhill alpine ski event. She crashed in the first sector and had to be airlifted off the mountain.
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Lindsey Vonn of the United States poses with her career medals with her father Alan Kildow in the finish area after the women’s downhill race at the World Alpine Skiing Championships in Are, Sweden, Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati, File)
“He’s 41 years old and this is the end of his career,” he told The Associated Press. “There will be no more ski racing for Lindsey Vonn as long as I have anything to say about it.”
Kildow did not divulge any details about the injuries, but mentioned his emotional state.
“She’s a very strong person,” Kildow said. “She knows physical pain and understands the circumstances she’s in. And she’s able to handle it. Better than I expected. She’s a very, very strong person. So I think she’s handling it very well.”
Vonn’s family was on hand to watch her attempt to achieve a miracle: winning an Olympic medal in one of the fastest sports the Games have to offer while dealing with a torn ACL.
American Lindsey Vonn’s father, Alan Kildow, is interviewed before a women’s alpine downhill ski race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Dampf)
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But the hopeful nature of the day quickly turned to somber feelings.
“First, the shock and horror of the whole thing seeing an accident like that,” Kildow said of what he felt watching the scene unfold. “It can be dramatic and traumatic. You are horrified by what those kinds of impacts have.”
“You can suffer a shock, an emotional psychological shock,” he added. “Because it’s hard to just accept what happened. But she’s well cared for… And the USOC and the US Ski Team have a very, very top-notch doctor with her and she’s very well cared for here in Italy.”
Kildow attributed the cause of the accident more to Vonn trying to push herself to the limit than to the ACL.
Vonn is recovering in a Treviso hospital. He holds the record with 12 World Cup wins in Cortina, Italy, and didn’t seem to have missed a beat when he returned to the circuit last year after a six-year absence.
Lindsey Vonn of the United States is airlifted after an accident during a women’s alpine ski race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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Vonn’s next stop will be home, according to Kildow. He will not return to any Olympic event to cheer on his teammates.
