02/09/26 12:48:00
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02/09 12:47 CST Lindsey Vonn's father tells AP her Olympic crash marks 'the end
of her career' if he has any say
Lindsey Vonn's father tells AP her Olympic crash marks 'the end of her career'
if he has any say
By ANDREW DAMPF
AP Sports Writer
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) --- Lindsey Vonn's father said Monday that the
American superstar will no longer race if he has any influence over her
decision and that she will not return to the Winter Olympics after breaking her
leg in the downhill over the weekend.
"She's 41 years old and this is the end of her career," Alan Kildow said in a
telephone interview with The Associated Press. "There will be no more ski races
for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it."
Kildow and the rest of Vonn's family -- a brother and two sisters, too -- have
been with Vonn while she is being treated at a hospital in Treviso following
her fall and helicopter evacuation from the course in Cortina on Sunday.
The hospital late Sunday released a statement saying Vonn had undergone surgery
on her left leg and the U.S. Ski Team said she was in stable condition. There
have not been other updates since.
Kildow declined to comment on details of Vonn's injuries, but he did address
how she was doing emotionally.
"She's a very strong individual," Kildow said. "She knows physical pain and she
understands the circumstances that she finds herself in. And she's able to
handle it. Better than I expected. She's a very, very strong person. And so I
think she's handling it real well."
Kildow --- a former ski racer himself who taught his daughter to race --- said
he slept in his daughter's hospital room overnight.
"She has somebody with her --- or multiple people with her --- at all times,"
Kildow said. "We'll have people here as long as she's here."
Kildow and the rest of Vonn's family watched the crash from the finish area
with all of the other spectators.
"First, the shock and the horror of the whole thing, seeing a crash like that,"
Kildow said of what he felt watching the scene unfold. "It can be dramatic and
traumatic. You're just horrified at what those kinds of impacts have.
"You can go into a shock an emotional psychological shock," he added. "Because
it's difficult to just accept what's happened. But she's well cared for. ...
And the USOC and the U.S. Ski team have a very, very top-notch doctor with her
and she is being very well cared for here in Italy."
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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