Gate Four strikes again as US skier Wright sails off course in same spot as Vonn in Olympics
- - Gate Four strikes again as US skier Wright sails off course in same spot as Vonn in Olympics
WILL GRAVES February 10, 2026 at 10:14 PM
0
1 / 2Milan Cortina Olympics Alpine SkiingA view of the Dolomites Tofane mountains from the finish area of an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
CORTINA D'AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — The fourth gate atop the course at the Tofane Alpine Skiing Center was troublesome again during the Olympic women's combined event on Tuesday.
Two days after American star Lindsey Vonn clipped the gate with her right arm in the women's downhill, leading to a dramatic crash in which Vonn suffered a potentially career-ending broken leg, gate four ended teammate Bella Wright's portion of the team combined event.
Wright, intent on taking a more aggressive line than she did during a disappointing 21st finish in the downhill, tried to nudge a little closer to the gate during the technically demanding upper portion of the 2,572-meter course. The decision led to her briefly losing her balance in the air.
While Wright did not come close to crashing, she couldn't recover in time to stop herself from veering offline. Wright skied left of the ensuing gate, ending her run in the same spot as Vonn, though thankfully without injury.
“I just skied it with a little more ‘oomph’ and really tried to create some speed out of it, which I did,” Wright said. “But therefore my line was just too straight and I missed that next gate.”
Vonn posted on Instagram late Monday that she was “5 inches too tight" during the 41-year-old's bid to bookend the gold she claimed in the same event at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.
“My (line) was within a foot (of the gate),” Wright said. “It just happened so fast (but) that's ski racing. So definitely bummed.”
Breezy Johnson, who joined Vonn as the only American women to win the marquee women's alpine event at the Games on Sunday, steered well clear of the gate during her run in the team combined.
It didn't stop her from laying down the fastest run of the session, giving teammate Mikaela Shiffrin the lead before the slalom portion of the event.
Johnson called the area around gate four “really bumpy" and she would know. It was in that same area five years ago where Johnson briefly lost control during the 2021 world championships, costing her precious fractions of a second and a shot at a medal.
“It's kind of a weird spot, “Johnson said. “Sometimes you can be in what you think is the right place, but if you hit a bump wrong it just rocks your world.”
___
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Source: “AOL Sports”
