A man is suspected of killing two people, including a person he was in a prior relationship with, and then gunning down four more at another home hundreds of miles away in connected homicides, authorities in Florida said.

Law enforcement in Fort Lauderdale and Sarasota County on Wednesday both identified 51-year-old Russell Kot as a suspect in the homicides. He died of apparent self-inflicted wounds on Tuesday following his alleged killing spree, authorities said.

Deputies in Sarasota County initially responded midday Tuesday to a shooting at a residence in a gated community, authorities said.

Four people were killed — including a man who was shot while approaching the front door, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. Two women and another man were found dead inside the home, located in the Amberlea neighborhood, authorities said.

The suspect, Kot, was also found dead in the home, the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said. Video showed his vehicle entering the neighborhood at around 11 a.m. Tuesday, it said. Shortly after, a neighbor’s Ring camera captured the sound of gunfire, the sheriff’s office said.

The man who was shot outside the residence was seen entering the neighborhood in his vehicle about 37 minutes later, the sheriff’s office said. Responding deputies found neighbors performing CPR on him in the front yard, it said.

Later Tuesday afternoon, over 200 miles away on Florida’s east coast, police conducting a well-being check at a residence in the Victoria Park section of Fort Lauderdale found two people dead inside a residence, police said.

While authorities in Sarasota County were working to identify the victims and suspect in their case, the sheriff’s department said Fort Lauderdale police contacted them to advise that they believed the double homicide and Sarasota County shooting might be related. 

Following the Fort Lauderdale homicide, the suspect’s vehicle was captured on camera traveling near Sarasota, before the quadruple homicide in Amberlea, authorities said.  

Kot lived in Fort Lauderdale and had a “previous romantic relationship” with one of the Fort Lauderdale victims, according to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office. That victim was connected to the Sarasota County victims, officials said, though they did not elaborate.

Police on Wednesday identified the victims in Fort Lauderdale as Larisa Blyudaya, 46, and Ben Azivov, 18.

The victims in Sarasota County were identified by the sheriff’s office on Wednesday as Olga Greinert, 49; Florita Stolyar, 66; Anatoly Ioffe, 61; and Yaroslav Blyudoy, 39.

The homicides remain under investigation. 

A motive in the Sarasota County incident is unknown at this time, the sheriff’s office said Wednesday.

“Based on our preliminary investigation, it appears that the suspect died of self-inflicted wounds, and there are no known documented mental health crises nor history of violence associated with him,” the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office said.

Instagram head Adam Mosseri is set to testify on Wednesday in a landmark trial involving claims that social media platforms owned by Meta and the video sharing platform YouTube are designed to be addictive for younger users.

The social media boss of Instagram, a subsidiary of Meta, will take the stand Wednesday, Feb. 11, to give testimony in the trial, which marks the first time major tech giants will face a jury over these allegations.

According to Meta, Mosseri “oversees all functions” of the Instagram app, “including engineering, product and operations.” He has worked for Meta for over a decade, previously serving as design director for mobile apps before leading the News Feed product and engineering teams, according to his company bio.

The social media case is being heard in the California Superior Court of Los Angeles County, with Meta, Facebook and Instagram’s parent company, and YouTube, which is owned by Google, moving forward as defendants.

Social platforms Snapchat and TikTok were previously named in the lawsuit but reached settlements with the plaintiffs last month.

Opening statements began earlier this week, with lawyers for both Meta and YouTube addressing the court on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.

This case centers around a 20-year-old plaintiff who goes by the initials KGM, whose lawyers claim she became hooked on social media apps starting at age 6. She says features like autoscrolling got her addicted to the platforms, ultimately leading to anxiety, depression and body image issues.

“Borrowing heavily from the behavioral and neurobiological techniques used by slot machines and exploited by the cigarette industry, defendants deliberately embedded in their products an array of design features aimed at maximizing youth engagement to drive advertising revenue,” the lawsuit claims, pointing to features on social media apps like auto-scrolling.

The social media companies deny the allegations. They have argued that other factors contribute to the mental health of young social media users and that they have put in place guardrails to protect them, including specific parental controls for accounts belonging to children and teens.

In a previous statement to ABC News, a Meta spokesperson said, “We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people.”

Meta said that the company has made “meaningful changes” to its services, such as introducing accounts specifically for teenage users.

In a separate statement to ABC News on Wednesday, a Meta spokesperson added, “The question for the jury in Los Angeles is whether Instagram was a substantial factor in the plaintiff’s mental health struggles. The evidence will show she faced many significant, difficult challenges well before she ever used social media.”

 YouTube has also said the allegations in the lawsuit are “not true.”

“Providing young people with a safer, healthier experience has always been core to our work,” spokesperson José Castañeda said in a statement to ABC News previously. “In collaboration with youth, mental health and parenting experts, we built services and policies to provide young people with age-appropriate experiences, and parents with robust controls.”

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to take the witness stand during the trial, with testimony currently set for Feb. 18.

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include new comments from a Meta spokesperson.

ANTANANARIVO, Madagascar — Tropical Cyclone Gezani made landfall in Madagascar’s main port city, unleashing winds that collapsed houses and left at least nine people dead on the Indian Ocean island, authorities said Wednesday.

Wind speeds exceeded 195 kph (121 mph) and Madagascar’s weather service issued red alerts for several regions, warning of possible floods and landslides as Gezani moved across the largely poor country of 31 million people.

Madagascar, battered by another deadly cyclone less than two weeks earlier, is especially vulnerable to cyclones blowing in off the Indian Ocean.

The National Office for Risk and Disaster Management said at least nine people died as buildings collapsed and at least 19 people were injured as Gezani made landfall late Tuesday in the eastern city of Toamasina.

Toamasna, the island’s main port with around 300,000 residents, bore the brunt of the cyclone and sustained severe damage, residents told The Associated Press.

Madagascar President Michael Randrianirina, who took power in a military coup in October, visited Toamasina to survey damage and meet residents, according to videos posted on the Facebook page of the president’s office. The videos showed flooded neighborhoods, homes and shops with windows blown out and roofs blown off, and trees and other debris strewn across the streets.

“It’s devastation. Roofs have been blown away, walls have collapsed, power poles are down, trees have been uprooted. It looks like a catastrophic landscape,” Toamasina resident Michel, who gave only his first name, said over the phone.

Power has been cut off in Toamasina since Tuesday.

Gezani moved across Madagascar from east to west on Wednesday, weakening to a tropical storm as it moved inland, according to the national weather service.

The storm passed around 100 kilometers (62 miles) north of the capital, Antananarivo, which is one of the regions under a red alert warning for possible flooding.

On Jan. 31, Tropical Cyclone Fytia killed 14 people in Madagascar and displaced more than 85,000, according to the risk and disaster management agency.

Cyclone season in Madagascar is from around November to March and brings recurring weather disasters for one of the world’s poorest countries, which barely has time to recover before another hits.

Madagascar, the world’s fourth largest island, has been impacted by more than a dozen tropical storms or cyclones since 2020. The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction say they cause an estimated $85 million worth of damage to infrastructure each year that impedes the nation’s development.

Forecasts showed Gezani was expected to move into the Mozambique channel between Madagascar and Africa’s east coast on Thursday and warned it might strengthen into a tropical cyclone again and turn back toward Madagascar’s southwest coast next week.

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AP Africa news:

The Pima County Sheriff’s Department, with assistance from the FBI, has detained an individual for questioning in connection with the abduction of “Today” show anchor Savannah Guthrie’s mother, Nancy Guthrie, a law enforcement official briefed on the investigation told ABC News.

The individual was detained in a location south of Tucson, the source said, and law enforcement is now searching a location associated with the individual.

In a statement on social media, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said deputies “detained a subject during a traffic stop.”

A court-authorized search was being carried out by the sheriff’s department, with assistance of the FBI’s Evidence Response Team, at a location in Rio Rico, Arizona, about 60 miles south of Tucson, related to the investigation, the department said. The operation was expected to last several hours, according to the department.

The developments followed the first images released of a masked man approaching Nancy Guthrie’s front door and as investigators continued to search in her neighborhood.

However, there’s no indication that the person who was detained is the figure seen in the newly released video footage.

Earlier Tuesday, FBI Director Kash Patel released images and video of an “armed individual” in connection with the disappearance of 84-year-old Nancy Guthrie.

The images showed someone wearing a mask, gloves, a backpack and armed with a holstered handgun at the front door of Nancy Guthrie’s Tucson-area home around the time investigators suspect she was abducted on Feb. 1.

“[L]aw enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance,” Patel said in his post.

The Guthrie family was shown the images before their public release, law enforcement sources told ABC News.

Savannah Guthrie posted the images to her Instagram account, with the message, “We believe she is still alive. Bring her home.”

In a second Instagram post on Tuesday afternoon, Savannah Guthrie wrote, “Someone out there recognizes this person. We believe she is still out there. Bring her home.”

Nancy Guthrie was taken from her home on Sunday, Feb. 1, according to authorities. A Monday ransom deadline by persons claiming to be Guthrie’s abductors passed as the search for her continues.

Patel said the FBI and the Pima County Sheriff’s office worked with “private sector partners” in recent days to recover the video footage, which Patel said had been “lost, corrupted, or inaccessible due to a variety of factors, including the removal of recording devices.”

“The video was recovered from residual data located in the backend systems,” Patel said. “Working with four partners — as of this morning, law enforcement has uncovered these previously inaccessible new images showing an armed individual appearing to have tampered with the camera at Nancy Guthrie’s front door the morning of her disappearance.”

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump was briefed on the latest details in the case and was reviewing the video footage posted online by Patel.

“We’re just praying for the safety of Nancy Guthrie and that she will return home soon. And the president directed me to please encourage all Americans with any information to call the FBI, and we hope that this case will come to a positive resolution as soon as possible,” Leavitt said.

The latest development in the case came a day after Savannah Guthrie made an impassioned plea to the public to help solve her mother’s disappearance.

“We are at an hour of desperation, and we need your help,” Savannah Guthrie said in an Instagram video, speaking directly to the camera. It was the fourth video that Guthrie and her two siblings had released on social media since their mother vanished.

The exact time of Nancy Guthrie’s disappearance is unclear. Her doorbell camera disconnected at 1:47 a.m., on Feb. 1, according to Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos. At 2:12 a.m., the camera software detected a person, and at 2:28 a.m., Nancy Guthrie’s pacemaker app disconnected from her phone, which was left behind at her house, Nanos said.

Over the weekend, the Guthrie family received a demand for a bitcoin ransom by a Monday deadline by a party claiming to be Nancy Guthrie’s kidnapper. Savannah Guthrie and her siblings said they’d pay for their mother’s return.

“We received your message and we understand,” Savannah Guthrie said in an Instagram video over the weekend. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

After the ransom deadline passed Monday evening, the FBI released a statement, saying its agents continued to work around the clock on the case and that more were being sent to Arizona to assist in the investigation.

“The FBI is not aware of any continued communication between the Guthrie family and suspected kidnappers, nor have we identified a suspect or person of interest in this case at this time,” the FBI said in its statement.

The bureau added that additional personnel from FBI field offices nationwide would continue to be deployed to the Tucson area to work on the case

 “We are currently operating a 24-hour command post that includes crisis management experts, analytic support, and investigative teams. But we still need the public’s help,” the FBI’s statement said. “Someone has that one piece of information that can help us bring Nancy home.”

Anyone with information is urged to call 911, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at 520-351-4900 or the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI.

Amid a funding fight on Capitol Hill and polls showing more than 60% of Americans disapproving of how U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is enforcing immigration laws, senior immigration officials will testify Tuesday before the House Department of Homeland Security Committee.

Acting ICE Director Todd Lyons, Customs and Border Protection (CPB) Commissioner Rodney Scott are to appear in the first of two hearings on oversight of the two agencies. Joseph Edlow, director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is also expected to appear.

The three are scheduled to testify before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on Thursday.

Tuesday’s testimony will be their first since two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens by federal law enforcement officers in Minneapolis and since the partial drawdown of federal officers from Minnesota.

“In order to get [Department of Homeland Security funding] done, I think we need to get some questions asked and make everybody feel comfortable about what ICE, USCIS, and CBP are doing, what their goals are, and what they’re trying to accomplish,” House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y. said on the “Julie Mason Show” over the weekend. “I think having these directors there will give them the opportunity to talk about the training that their officers receiv. … There was a huge investment to hire more ICE and CBP officers that came through the One Big Beautiful Bil. … It’s going to be good to have these directors giving answers and setting the record straight.”

Democrats have been calling for more accountability for ICE and CBP. They have also called on Department of Homeland Secretary Kristi Noem, who oversees the immigration agencies, to resign, which she has said she will not.

In a statement released Monday, Rep. Bennie Thompson, the ranking Democrat on the committee, said the hearing “is going to be just the start of a reckoning for the Trump administration and its weaponization of government against our country.”

“Donald Trump and Kristi Noem must be held accountable for the immigration operations creating chaos in our communities, terrorizing people, and hurting U.S. citizens and immigrants alike,” he continued. “I hope my Republican colleagues will remember that our job is to conduct oversight, not cover for Donald Trump and his out-of-control administration, which is running roughshod over Americans’ rights, killing U.S. citizens, and threatening our very democracy.” 

Polls show Americans disapprove of how the agencies are conducting President Donald Trump’s immigration enforcement operation.

A Quinnipiac poll released earlier this month found that 63% of voters disapprove of the way ICE is enforcing immigration laws and 34% approve — a lower rating than the agency received in a January Quinnipiac poll, when 57% disapproved and 40% approved.

And an Ipsos poll from early February found that 62% of Americans said efforts by ICE officers to deal with unauthorized immigration goes “too far.” That is up slightly from 58% who said the same in a Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted the week before. The share of Republicans saying ICE efforts go too far was up 10 points, from 20% to 30%.

Funding for DHS is set to expire on Friday if there is no deal on DHS reforms Democrats want passed for CBP and ICE.

In a letter last week to Republican leaders, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer laid out 10 key demands from Democrats on DHS funding, including calling for judicial warrants before agents can enter private property, a ban on ICE agents wearing face masks, requiring the use of body cameras and new laws for use-of-force standards.

Republican Sen. Katie Britt, who has been deputized by leadership to lead talks on behalf of Senate Republicans, ripped into the Democrats’ proposal in a post on X last week.

“Democrats’ newest proposal is a ridiculous Christmas list of demands for the press,” Britt said. “This is NOT negotiating in good faith, and it’s NOT what the American people want. They continue to play politics to their radical base at the expense of the safety of Americans.”

Senate Majority Leader John Thune told reporters Monday evening that Republicans are preparing a counteroffer to Democrats’ proposal that could be made available soon. 

The six-lane bridge is set to connect Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan.

President Donald Trump on Monday threatened to block the opening of a new bridge between the United States and Canada until, he said, Canada compensates and respects the U.S.

“I will not allow this bridge to open until the United States is fully compensated for everything we have given them, and also, importantly, Canada treats the United States with the Fairness and Respect that we deserve,” Trump said in a social media post on Monday.

The president did not mention the bridge by name, but appears to be referring to the Gordie Howe International Bridge. The six-lane project is set to connect Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan.

Trump said that he plans to “start negotiations, IMMEDIATELY,” seeming to refer to a deal on the bridge.

The $4.7 billion bridge has been under construction since 2018. It is expected to open early this year, with major construction complete, though an opening date has not yet been announced. Its construction is being financed and overseen by the Canadian government.

Trump on Monday also repeated his ongoing criticism of Canada since he began a trade war with America’s northern neighbor. 

“With all that we have given them, we should own, perhaps, at least one half of this asset. The revenues generated because of the U.S. Market will be astronomical,” Trump said in the post.

ABC News’ Meredith Deliso contributed to this report.

Faced with a demand for a bitcoin ransom and a Monday deadline by someone claiming to be her mother’s kidnapper, “Today” host Savannah Guthrie and her siblings over the weekend solemnly pledged to pay for the return of their mother, Nancy.

“We received your message and we understand,” Savannah Guthrie said in a message posted to Instagram. “We beg you now to return our mother to us so we can celebrate with her. This is the only way we will have peace. This is very valuable to us, and we will pay.”

Nancy Guthrie, 84, was last seen Jan. 31, and authorities have said they believe she was abducted from her home near Tucson, Arizona.

“We are aware of the video posted by the Guthrie family. But don’t have any additional information to share,” a spokesperson for Pima Sheriff said in a statement to ABC News on Saturday following the release of the latest video from the family.

The message Savannah Guthrie references in her new Instagram post is the same message the FBI and Pima Sheriff said they were studying Friday, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

Investigators have not confirmed the authenticity of the latest message, which was received by a Tucson television station, nor any of the other ransom notes mentioning Nancy Guthrie, according to the source.

Investigators have returned repeatedly to the home of Annie Guthrie, Nancy’s other daughter, were Nancy enjoyed dinner and a Saturday game night before returning to her home a few minutes away.

Investigators have also returned to Nancy’s home, where they’ve examined rooftop cameras, towed away a car and made inquiries of neighbors.

The sheriff’s department said, “This remains an active and ongoing investigation,” but added that, after more than a week, “Investigators have not identified any suspects, persons of interest, or vehicles connected to this case.”

ABC News’ Nadine El-Bawab contributed to this report.

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.

New York Republican Rep. Mike Lawler reiterated his criticism of President Donald Trump on Sunday after a post from Trump last week included a racist animation of former President Barack Obama and former first lady Michelle Obama depicted as apes. 

“I think sometimes in our public discourse it is best to just say, ‘I’m sorry,'” Lawler told ABC News’ “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl. 

Lawler, who was one of the first Republicans to criticize Trump over the post on Friday, said that he is taking the White House at its word that the post was a “mistake” made by a staffer. Lawler added that whoever originally created the meme “is an idiot.”

Asked on Friday if he would apologize for the video, Trump told reporters he would not.

“No, I didn’t make a mistake. I mean, I look at a lot of — thousands of things,” Trump said. “And I looked at the beginning of it, it was fine.”

Asked if he condemned the racist portion of the video, Trump said, “Of course I do.”

Trump’s post included claims of debunked 2020 election conspiracies before the Obamas’ faces appear near the end on the bodies of apes abruptly and briefly without explanation with the song “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” playing over it. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt initially blasted criticism of the video as “fake outrage” before the White House later blamed it on a staffer and deleted the post about 12 hours after it went online.

GOP Sen. Tim Scott of South Carolina, one of Trump’s staunchest allies, was one of the first prominent Republican to call out the president, calling the post “the most racist thing I’ve seen out of this White House.”

“I think Tim Scott obviously was one of the first people to speak out. I don’t think he was engaged in fake outrage,” Lawler said.

“I think the vast majority of Americans recognize that that type of imagery, and trying to, you know, compare, the first Black president to a gorilla or a monkey, is insensitive, it’s offensive, it’s racist,” Lawler said. 

He added, “Whether it was intentional or a mistake, the fact is it’s wrong. And we should all just be able to acknowledge that and move forward.”

Here are more highlights from Lawler’s interview:

On reports Trump asked for Penn Station and Dulles International Airport named for him

Karl: We learned that President Trump told Chuck Schumer, the Senate leader, that he would be willing to unfreeze $16 billion in funding for a major infrastructure project in New York and New Jersey if the president — if Schumer were willing to endorse the idea of renaming Penn Station — and, by the way, Dulles Airport — after Donald Trump. How how is that OK? 

Lawler: I have been against freezing the funds. But how did we get here? Chuck Schumer decided, last fall to shut the government down for 43 days. And as a result, this critical infrastructure project was frozen during that shutdown, in which the entirety of the federal government, you know, was depleted of funds. I know there have been numerous conversations between the president and Senator Schumer to try and resolve this.

Karl: I mean, he’s holding the money hostage for having these things named after him. I mean, this is not like part of a, ‘Let’s honor somebody.’ He wants it named after himself and he’s saying he will unfreeze the money if they’ll do it. 

Lawler: Jon, at the end of the day to me, I really could care less what the name of a building is. A critical infrastructure project is. I care that it gets done. And ultimately in my, from my vantage point, you know, work it out. These guys have been in, in, known each other for roughly 50 years. You know, this goes back a long time from my vantage point.

On a bipartisan immigration solution 

Lawler: Look, this is an issue that I’ve been focused on for years. You know, for 40 years, we have not solved our immigration crisis. The American people were rightly outraged by what happened under the Biden administration, where you had over 10.5 million migrants cross our border, most of them illegally. You know, porous southern border needed to be shut down, President Trump did that. The fact is that we have had nine straight months of net-zero illegal border crossings. You’ve had 675,000 people deported, 1.9 million people self-deport, many of those folks, criminal aliens or people who have been involved in the criminal justice system, the American people overwhelmingly support that. But what they do believe, if you’ve been in this country, right or wrong, for five, ten, 15, 20 years, your children and your grandchildren are American citizens, people don’t want to see families broken apart.

And so there’s got to be a legal path forward, not a path to citizenship, but a legal path forward for people to come out of the shadows so that they can work legally, that they can pay their taxes, pay any back taxes owed, pay a fine, not collect government benefits, and not commit a crime that is the basis of the Dignity Act, so that we can actually start to solve a crisis that has been in effect for 40 years. We have over 25 million people in this country who are undocumented. You’re not rounding them all up and kicking them out. It’s not realistic.

CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Lindsey Vonn, racing on a badly injured left knee, crashed early in the Olympic downhill on Sunday and was taken off the course by a helicopter after the 41-year-old American received medical attention on the snow for long, anguished minutes.

Vonn lost control over the opening traverse after cutting the line too tight and was spun around in the air. She was heard screaming out after the crash as she was surrounded by medical personnel before she was strapped to a gurney and flown away by a helicopter, possibly ending the skier’s storied career. Her condition was not immediately known, with the U.S. Ski Team saying simply she would be evaluated.

Breezy Johnson, Vonn’s teammate, won gold and became only the second American woman to win the Olympic downhill after Vonn did it 16 years ago. The 30-year-old Johnson held off Emma Aicher of Germany and Italy’s Sofia Goggia on a bittersweet day for Team USA.

Vonn had family in the stands, including her father, Alan Kildow, who stared down at the ground while his daughter was being treated after just 13 seconds on the course. Others in the crowd, including rapper Snoop Dogg, watched quietly as the star skier was finally taken off the course she knows so well and holds a record 12 World Cup wins.

Vonn’s crash was “tragic, but it’s ski racing,” said Johan Eliasch, president of the Internationl Ski and Snowboard Federation.

“I can only say thank you for what she has done for our sport,” he said, “because this race has been the talk of the games and it’s put our sport in the best possible light.”

All eyes had been on Vonn, the feel-good story heading into the Olympics. She had returned to elite ski racing last season after nearly six years, a remarkable decision given her age but she also had a partial titanium knee replacement in her right knee, too. Many wondered how she would fare as she sought a gold medal to join the one she won in the downhill at the 2010 Vancouver Games.

The four-time overall World Cup champion stunned everyone by being a contender almost immediately. She came to the Olympics as the leader in the World Cup downhill standings and was a gold-medal favorite before her crash in Switzerland nine days ago, when she suffered her latest knee injury. In addition to a ruptured ACL, she also had a bone bruise and meniscus damage.

Still, no one counted her out even then. In truth, she has skied through injuries for three decades at the top of the sport. In 2006, ahead of the Turin Olympics, Vonn took a bad fall during downhill training and went to the hospital. She competed less than 48 hours later, racing in all four events she’d planned, with a top result of seventh in the super-G.

“It’s definitely weird,” she said then, “going from the hospital bed to the start gate.”

Cortina has always had many treasured memories for Vonn beyond the record wins. She is called the queen of Cortina, and the Olympia delle Tofana is a course that had always suited Vonn. She tested out the knee twice in downill training runs over the past three days before the awful crash on Sunday in clear, sunny conditions.

“This would be the best comeback I’ve done so far,” Vonn said before the race. “Definitely the most dramatic.”

After the crash, the celebration for the medalists was held and fellow skiers thought about Vonn’s legacy.

“She has been my idol since I started watching ski racing,” said Kajsa Vickhoff Lie of Norway. “We still have a World Cup to do after Olympics … I wouldn’t be surprised if she suddenly shows up on the start gate, but the crash didn’t look good.”

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AP Olympics: