Sunday brought both heartbreak and elation for Team USA athletes.
Lindsey Vonn crashed out of the Olympics with a serious injury while her teammate Breezy Johnson secured gold in the same competition.
USA figure skaters, meanwhile secured a dramatic team victory in a competition that was tied with Japan heading into the final round. And a USA curling team has advanced to face a shot at a medal on Monday.
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Here are the top five stories from Sunday:
1. Devastating end to Lindsey Vonn’s Olympics
Lindsey Vonn’s 2026 Olympics and almost certainly her Olympics career came to a heartbreaking end on Sunday when she crashed out of the competition 13 seconds into her run in the women’s alpine downhill.
Vonn suffered a fracture in her left leg and had to be airlifted off the mountain. She had surgery to repair the fracture and was listed in stable condition later Sunday.
Vonn was competing on a torn ACL in her left knee that she sustained on Jan. 31 in Switzerland. She moved forward to compete despite the ACL tear and had successful training runs on her injured knee prior to Sunday’s Olympic final.
Lindsey Vonn crashes during the women’s alpine downhill competition.
(ASSOCIATED PRESS)
Vonn, 41, competed through the ACL tear in what is widely expected to be her final Olympics. If so, she’ll finish her Olympics career with one gold medal (2010, Vancouver) and two bronze (Vancouver, Pyeongchang 2018).
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2. USA edges Japan for gold in dramatic team figure skating competition
Team USA secured its second medal of the Games with a gold in the team figure skating in Sunday’s final event. USA came out of Saturday’s Day 1 with a five-point lead, but entered Sunday’s men’s free skate — the final portion of the contest — tied with Japan in first place.
Japan’s Kaori Sakamoto won the women’s free skate, while American Amber Glenn finished third to put the two teams into a first-place tie with 59 points each heading into the men’s free skate.
There, Ilia Malinin’s 200.03 edged Shun Sato’s 194.86 to ensure gold for Team USA with 69 points for a second straight Olympics. Japan won silver with 68 points, while host Italy secured bronze with 60.
The American medal count now sits at two after the second full day of competition. Host Italy leads the way with nine total medals, while Norway is the only nation other than the US. with multiple golds so far with three.
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3. Breezy Johnson wins gold, then breaks it
Breezy Johnson secured the first U.S. medal of the Games with gold in the same women’s alpine downhill skiing competition in which Vonn was injured.
She secured the victory with a time of 1:36.10, edging Germany’s silver medalist, Emma Aicher who finished in 1:36.14. Italy’s Sofia Goggia secured bronze.
Sadly for Johnson, her medal broke into three pieces when the ribbon holding it around her neck broke as she celebrated.
“Well, I was jumping up and down in excitement, and it fell off,” Johnson told reporters. “I think that’s maybe why it broke.”
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It’s not clear yet if she’ll receive a replacement medal.
4. U.S. curling team advances to medal round
Sunday was a good day for the U.S mixed doubles curling tandem of Cory Thiesse and Korey Dropkin.
The pair defeated Estonia’s Estonia’s Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill, 5-3 and then beat Sweden’s Isabella and Rasmus Wranaa, 8-7, in a dramatic match that was tied at 7-7 heading into the final frame.
With the wins, USA improved to 6-2 in round-robin play to advance to the four-team knockout round with Great Britain (8-1), Italy (5-3) and Sweden (5-3). Three of those four teams will secure medals.
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Team USA has one more round-robin match against Italy on Monday, but each team’s place in the medal round is secure. The medal round is scheduled to start Monday at 12:05 p.m. ET.
5. Frigid shirtless celebration
Even Pita Taufatofua — aka the shirtless Tongan — wore a shirt at Friday’s Opening Ceremony.
But when Austria’s Benjamin Karl won his second career Olympic gold medal Sunday in men’s parallel giant snowboard slalom, it was time to strip down, no matter the conditions.
Karl stripped off several layers and let out a primal scream into the camera after securing his victory.
Karl then laid down face first in the snow — still sans shirt — to continue his celebration.
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These athletes love the snow.
