While friction isn’t the only influence on the slopes, it is definitely something at the top of a skier’s mind—especially when they’re staring down their race from the top of a very large hill.

Lindsey Vonn has redefined the sport of alpine skiing over the past two decades. Through the years, she established herself as one of the greatest of all time. Since she made her debut in the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup at the age of 16,

Alpine skiing, now in the spotlight at the Milano Cortina Winter Games, has undergone a quantum leap in technology and course preparation over the past quarter‑century, fundamentally changing how athletes race and train.

Lindsey Vonn ‘s Olympic dream is in tatters after she crashed out of the Women’s Downhill final. The 41-year-old Team USA skiing legend had taken a huge risk competing just days after announcing she had suffered an ACL rupture on her knee.

When she tore her left ACL nine days ago in a spill in Switzerland, as she was lifted by helicopter off the mountain in her final race before the 2026 Milano Cortina Games, it seemed like these Olympics lost its biggest star. It seemed like Vonn's grand return from her 2019 retirement was over right before her biggest moment.

The two leading giant slalom racers of the season delivered a blunt verdict on the Olympic course on Sunday, with Switzerland’s Camille Rast saying the hill felt “like a junior race slope” after a race that left her and Austria’s Julia Scheib just outside the podium places.