Karin Kildow, Lindsey Vonn’s sister, said her family is “hoping for the best” after her sister crashed early during the women’s downhill run — a crash that led her tumbling through the air and screaming, before being tended to by medical personnel and being airlifted off the mountain.

“That definitely was the last thing we wanted to see. It happened quick. So when that happens, you’re just immediately hoping she’s okay,” Kildow said. “It was scary because when you start to see the stretchers being put out, that is not a good sign.”

The crash crumbled the 41-year-old’s Olympic comeback dream, which she pushed ahead in pursuing just over a week after she tore her ACL.

Vonn initially retired from skiing in 2019, but she announced her comeback to the sport in later 2024. Her appearance at the Milan Cortina Games comes 24 years after she made her Olympic debut at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games and 16 years after winning her last gold medal in Vancouver.

“She just dares greatly,” Kildow said. “She put it all out there so it’s really hard to see, but we just really hope she’s okay.”

Kildow went on to say that her sister always gives her all in her sport, while acknowledging the dangers of alpine skiing.

“She always goes 110%,” Kildow said of her sister. “There’s never anything less, so I know she put her whole heart into it and sometimes, just, like, things happen. It’s a very dangerous sport. And there are a lot of variables at play. I don’t really know exactly what happened. It did look like a pretty rough fall. We’re just hoping for the best.”

While Vonn’s family wasn’t sure what happened, if her torn ACL contributed to the crash, or if she was furthered injured, Kildow said Vonn has “all of her surgeons and her [physical therapy] staff here and her doctors. So I am sure she will give us a report and we will meet her at whatever hospital she’s at. I think she is being evaluated right now is the only thing we’ve heard, hopefully we’ll hear more soon.”