The Only Failure In Life Is Not Trying. Lindsey Vonn Talks About Her Olympic Crash

It wasn't the fairy tale ending we all wanted. Lindsey Vonn's brutal crash in the Olympic Downhill after tearing her ACL in training, ended her hopes of repeating her gold medal performance - and created more damage to her long-suffering legs with a complicated fracture.

But she still continues to inspire with her words when in hospital.

'Similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try. I tried. I dreamt. I jumped. I hope if you take away anything from my journey it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying.'

Amen to that. 

Lindsey Vonn the Bomb officially qualified for the Olympics in Cortina. She was on the podium for the Super-G in Val d'Isere, in third place behind Austrian winner Cornelia Huetter and German Kira Weidle-Winkelmann, having exploded back onto the FIS World Cup scene to win in St Moritz, continuing her incredible comeback with another first for the 2025/26 season in the shortened Downhill in Zauchensee, Austria.

It was her 84th career win. Returning from a long break, Vonn is the oldest alpine skiing World Cup winner on record. But it's not about age, it's about ability AND attitude. Her continued success is, she says, down to a highly competitive streak: 'I'm a pretty stubborn person. I have an intense amount of competitiveness in me, it's just how I'm wired'.

Which is why, of course, she decided to risk further injury when she launched out of the Olympic Downhill gates for that leg-breaking run.

Photo: Claire Abbe / Red Bull Content Pool