Speaking after the distressing crash Ducrey steered clear of offering his opinion on whether or not she should have competed, and insisted the choice was made by herself and her entourage. Ducree said: “She was able to train and made the choice with the excellent team that she has to take part…this decision was really hers & her team to take. She made the decision & unfortunately it led to the injury.” 

Ducree’s comments were similar to those of Johan Eliasch, the head of the International Ski Federation. When asked the same question as Ducrey, he said: “This has to be decided by the individual athlete.

“What is also important for people to understand is that the accident that she had yesterday, she was incredibly unlucky, one in a thousand. This is something which is part of ski racing and it’s a dangerous sport.”

Before the games began, her coach Aksel Lund Svindal, had insisted Vonn was in a physically good enough condition to compete for medals, despite her ACL injury. In Saturday’s shortened session, she even clocked the third fastest time. 

However, in competition, she was looking to catch Breezy Johnson’s impressive time – which was eventually enough to secure the gold medal – and pushed as hard as she could, culminating in her crash. Vonn has since had surgery on her broken leg. 

It’s also understood there’s a chance she may need more surgery before she leaves the hospital, according to France 24. One positive for Vonn is her lead at the top of the World Cup rankings. 

The injury in Milan and Cortina will likely end her World Cup downhill campaign which has two months left before the end of the campaign.