Lindsey Vonn’s horror crash in the women’s downhill ski event at the Winter Olympics was caused when she caught a gate with her right side, one photograph has shown. 

The former Olympic champion, 41, has been left in intensive care following the incident on Sunday, although it is understood that she was transferred there for the sake of extra privacy, rather than any greater medical necessity. The US team have also stated the 2010 gold medallist is ‘stable’.

Vonn had been competing in Cortina following a six-year hiatus from the sport and only nine days on from rupturing the ACL in her left knee in a training run crash ahead of the Games.

But Vonn was just 13 seconds into her run and had rounded the second corner when she appeared to lose control.

The 41-year-old sped over a hill and careered into one of the plastic markers on the side of the track before hitting the ground. Her right leg appeared to hit the ground first, as a cloud of powder engulfed the American. Vonn then tumbled forwards again, appearing to smash her shoulder into the ground, before coming to a halt on the slope. 

The Cortina crowd fell silent as medical crews arrived to attend to Vonn, who was later airlifted off the mountain. 

One photo has shown the key detail behind Lindsey Vonn’s horror crash at the Winter Olympics

As Vonn sped down the mountain, she caught a ski gate with her right side before she fell

Distressing scenes then erupted, with Vonn, whose skis had not detached from her boots, seen wincing in pain as she lay on her back in the snow. The American was also heard crying out in agony as the medics placed her onto a stretcher. 

And, a photo from AP, moments before Vonn’s crash, shows the skier careering into the ski gate while she was in the air and speeding down the mountain. 

Her right arm appeared to be on the wrong side of the gate and the force of her body could be seen in how the ski gate had been knocked, with it seemingly snapping.

Vonn went tumbling seconds after colliding into the gate, with her body rotating 180 degrees before her heavy crash.  

Organisers then began to play background music over the skier’s cries as she was lifted onto a stretcher.

An update provided by the US Ski and Snowboard Team on X later explained that Vonn had sustained an injury but was in a stable condition, before she then had surgery on a left-leg fracture. 

‘Update: Lindsey Vonn sustained an injury, but is in stable condition and in good hands with a team of American and Italian physicians,’ a spokesperson had said.

The 41-year-old had defied the impossible by coming back to compete after rupturing her ACL prior to the Games and had completed multiple training runs in the build-up to Sunday’s event. 

While concerns have arisen over whether the 2010 Olympic champion was taking a risk in entering the competition – having undergone a reconstruction in her right knee back in 2024 and rupturing her ACL before the tournament – Vonn had made the decision to compete in Sunday’s downhill final. 

Vonn was airlifted to hospital after her crash, with it revealed that she had broken her leg

Vonn, a former Olympic champion, was competing in Cortina following a six-year hiatus from the sport

She had posted a time that was 1.39 seconds off the fastest run during a training session on Friday. 

The American, who has won 84 World Cups across multiple alpine skiing events during her glittering career, would improve on that on Saturday, posting a time of one minute and 38 seconds, which was 37 seconds shy of team-mate Breezy Johnson, who went on to claim gold on Sunday. 

As Vonn left the gates on Sunday, her coach was heard shouting, ‘keep charging, keep pushing’.  

The downhill event was subsequently suspended, with other competitors removing their skis at the top of the slope as they waited for Vonn to be evacuated.

BBC pundit and former alpine skier Chemmy Alcott was distressed by the scenes unfolding in Cortina d’Ampezzo. 

‘I feel guilty that I am this emotional,’ Alcott said to the BBC. ‘I just never believed it would end in a clump at the side of the piste, not moving. What we saw was that the top of the piste is really hard for a fit athlete; she just had her right knee. It is brutal, think about her family, her team and herself.

‘We have to be realistic. The risk was really high, the risk she takes when she falls will double that, her body will not be able to take that. There is clapping and there is hope that she would be okay but they have put up some background music because it is uncomfortable.’ 

Today is Monday, Feb. 9, the 40th day of 2026. There are 325 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Feb. 9,1986, Halley’s Comet made its closest pass by Earth at 39 million miles in its first return to the solar system since 1910. (The comet’s next appearance will be in 2061).

Also on this date:

In 1825, the House of Representatives elected John Quincy Adams president after no candidate received a majority of electoral votes.

As parts of Lambton and Middlesex counties dig themselves out of another winter storm, stories of people going above and beyond to help each other are emerging.

Those stories, however, also come with serious reminders — ones a local tow truck operator who spent hours out in the snow said can mean the difference between life and death.

“You absolutely have to be prepared,” said Gary Vandenheuvel, co-owner of Preferred Towing in Sarnia, Ont.

The storm completely paralyzed movement on the region’s roads Friday night and into Saturday prompting OPP to call it a “significant event”. Many roads were closed in Sunday, including Hwy. 402 between London and Sarnia.

Heavy winds blew snow into massive drifts, in some cases almost completely covering stranded vehicles while their motorists were still inside.

It was a weekend that required all hands on deck for Vandenheuvel’s 12-person crew, and dozens of other tow companies from across the region.

He said the Hwy. 402 closure resulted in traffic being diverted to smaller, less regularly maintained rural roads in the area instead.

“Once that wind kicks in, and everything starts happening out there, the snow drifts start to build, and it just makes it impossible to move, especially on those routes,” Vandenheuvel said.

“Unfortunately, people leave not thinking that the road conditions are going to be that bad. There were blizzard warnings out, but [they didn’t] heed those warnings.”

As the chaos unfolded Vandenheuvel said he received hundreds of calls, and tow truck operators working up to 30 hours to try to help people who were stranded.

Tow trucks couldn’t make it so snowmobilers help

Despite those efforts, he said most of the calls were from people who were simply unreachable.

“Tow trucks are vehicles, just like everybody else’s. We’re not able to magically get through snow that everybody else can’t get through,” Vandenheuvel said.

The impassable snow drifts and low visibility saw first responders, and Good Samaritans make use of snowmobiles and farm equipment to reach people.

Average citizens who wanted to help took it upon themselves to do what they could, according to Graham Snyder, spokesperson for the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs District 5.

“It’s just kind of a natural reaction to a crisis. People knew there were people in danger, they put themselves in other people’s shoes,” Graham Snyder, spokesperson for the Ontario Federation of Snowmobile Clubs District 5, said.

“It wasn’t just snowmobiles either, but [people helped with] tractors and snow blowers.”

Police say planning paid off

According to the Ontario Provincial Police’s West Region media relations coordinator, Derek Rogers, the police response to this storm was made easier by seeds sown over a decade ago, after the 2010 storm that left over 1,500 people stranded on highways in Lambton County.

After that storm, police and local governments made an effort to better plan for future storms, he said.

“The OPP initiated what we call regional mobilization, which is essentially all hands on deck. Warming centres were established to assist with folks who were caught in the bad weather, and then began the meticulous process of checking all of these vehicles to make sure that everybody was OK,” Rogers said.

He added that police were aware of roughly 150 abandoned vehicles on Highway 402, and OPP previously said they received roughly 400 calls at the time of the weather event.

Vandenheuvel isn’t the only one urging drivers to be prepared and consider the road conditions before traveling.

“We know that people have to travel, but check the weather before you leave and make that decision about whether or not you want to risk it,” Rogers said.

Tips from the OPP include:

• Checking road conditions before departing.
• Having a full tank of gas, a fully charged cell phone, snacks and warm clothing.
• Staying in your vehicle.
• Ensuring your tailpipe is clear of snow if running the vehicle for warmth, as failing to do so can result in carbon monoxide poisoning.

I’m currently renting my grandmother’s house while she is in a care home with dementia.

Soon after I moved in, I was hit with a £614 quarterly water bill from Southern Water. I was already paying £62 a month in direct debits but was apparently falling short.

I discovered the company had registered the wrong meter to my grandmother’s account and was charging her, and now me, for a neighbour’s supply.

It has thus been overcharging my grandmother – registered as a vulnerable customer – since she moved to the newly built estate 18 years ago.

Southern visited the property, admitted the account was linked to the wrong meter and installed a new digital one.

It said in December that it had cancelled the £614 bill, and that the account was £500 in credit. But now it has changed its story.

It has wiped the credit and is, instead, demanding I pay it £500, even though my new meter readings prove my actual usage amounts to about £100.

Every time I call, I get a different story, or a new “process” to follow that leads to a dead end.

It feels as if it is trying to cover up a massive 18-year mistake.

JM Horsham, West Sussex

It seems your grandmother, who lived alone and was on the priority services register because of her age and illness, has been paying for the water at a neighbouring house ever since she moved in. The mix-up wasn’t obvious when the neighbouring household was small, but her bills increased significantly more recently since four people now live there.

You immediately spotted that the meter serial number on your bills did not match the meter assigned to the house.

Instead of making urgent amends, Southern added the amount outstanding on the neighbour’s meter to the sum due on your new one. The result was a £500 bill sent days after written confirmation that the account was £500 in credit.

Southern admits that its complaints team contacted you and that the account was fully reviewed after I raised questions. By its calculations, your grandmother had been overcharged £893. You accept this figure.

The supplier has issued a cheque for this, plus £200 in goodwill, to your grandmother, and refunded £594 of overpayments made by you since you took over the account last summer.

Southern Water says: “We are very sorry for the mix-up in meter readings and the distress the customer experienced trying to resolve the issue.”

We welcome letters but cannot answer individually. Email us at consumer.champions@theguardian.com or write to Consumer Champions, Money, the Guardian, 90 York Way, London N1 9GU. Please include a daytime phone number. Submission and publication of all letters is subject to our terms and conditions.

Music superstar Bad Bunny‘s halftime performance at Super Bowl LX on Sunday shared a message of hope, including the hope of what a person can achieve.

One moment from the halftime show that quickly went viral was when the Puerto Rican singer walked into a living room set in the middle of Levi Stadium and handed a Grammy trophy to a young boy.

Just one week before his Super Bowl performance, Bad Bunny won three Grammys, including album of the year for “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS,” the first time a Spanish-language album has captured the ceremony’s top prize.

The moment between Bad Bunny and the young boy at the Super Bowl was meant to symbolize that anyone can pursue their hopes and dreams, a source told ABC News.

Lincoln Fox is the 5-year-old actor who portrayed the young boy, according to his talent agency.

Lincoln shared a clip of the moment on his own Instagram page, captioning the video, “I’ll remember this day forever! @badbunnypr – it was my truest honor 🐰🏆🏈.”

According to Lincoln’s Instagram, the 5-year-old is half Argentinian.

Bad Bunny’s halftime show was one of cultural diversity, with the singing sensation bringing his Puerto Rican culture to the stage at Levi Stadium in Santa Clara, California.

As he sang a collection of hit songs, including “Tití Me Preguntó,” Bad Bunny was flanked by celebrities of Hispanic heritage, including Ricky Martin, Jessica Alba, Karol G and Cardi B.

For a portion of his performance, the musician carried a Puerto Rican flag while singing.

Leftist protesters gathered outside Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, California, where the NFL’s Super Bowl LX was being played, to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).

Video footage posted to X by TMZ showed a huge crowd of protesters with signs that said, “ICE Out Of Our Communities,” “Stop Violence, Deport ICE,” and “California is 27% Foreign-born. ICE – STOP the Cleansing.”

Protesters were also seen “waving ‘Anti-ICE’ and ‘Anti-Trump’ flags,” according to TMZ:

Waving “Anti-ICE” and “Anti-Trump” flags, people marched along the street accompanied by officers on horseback.

In the clip, you ca hear the chants of “Si se puede” and “F**k ICE.”