Lindsey Vonn suffered a serious crash in the women’s super -G at the alpine skiing world championships in Austria, reports USA Today.

The crash occurred after a jump during the opening race of the world championships. Vonn landed on the side of her ski, flipped over and crashed into a gate. She was airlifted off the slopes after being treated by medics on the ground.

A video of the crash is here:

And her helicopter rescue is shown in this clip:

According to Charles Robinson from Yahoo! Sports, Vonn suffered ACL and MCL tears to her right knee:

A source told Yahoo! Sports that Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn has suffered ACL & MCL tears to her right knee in a mountain crash today—
Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) February 05, 2013

A medical report will be forthcoming from USA skiing, but Lindsey Vonn's 2014 Olympic bid will be put in significant jeopardy by her injury.—
Charles Robinson (@CharlesRobinson) February 05, 2013

The International Ski Federation turned down Lindsey Vonn’s request to race men in a downhill race. (Alain Grosclaude/Getty Images)

Olympic gold medalist and four-time overall World Cup champion Lindsey Vonn was turned down by the International Ski Federation on Saturday in her attempt to race men in a World Cup event, reports Bloomberg News.

“One gender is not entitled to participate in races of the other and exceptions will not be made to the FIS Rules,” the federation said in a statement.

The federation did say that Vonn is “welcome to submit a request” to Lake Louise organizers “to be a forerunner.”

Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist, wanted to compete against men at a World Cup downhill race in Lake Louise, Alberta, on Nov. 24.

“This is something that I personally want to do,” said Vonn earlier this week. “I’m not trying to race the whole men’s tour; I just want to race one time. If you know me, which most people on the World Cup do, they know that this is a legitimate goal of mine and not a publicity stunt.”

Vonn has 26 career downhill victories, including sweeping two downhills and a super-G last November at Lake Louise.

Skier Lindsey Vonn wants to compete in the men’s downhill to increase awareness of her sport. (Alexis Boichard/Agence/Getty Images)

World Cup skiing champion and Olympic gold medalist Lindsey Vonn sent a letter to International Ski Federation to ask permission to enter a men’s downhill race so she can enhance women’s alpine skiing’s image, reports Reuters.

Vonn sent a letter to men’s race director Gunter Hujara, asking him about the possibility of competing in the men’s downhill at Lake Louise, Alberta.

“We have been talking about it but no decision has been taken yet, it’s a matter that the FIS Council has to examine during its next meeting in November,” said Norway’s Atle Skaardal, the women’s World Cup race director. ”It’s necessary to go through the rules to see if there is a way to do this and also a reason to do it.”

Vonn has won 53 World Cup events, including 26 downhills and became the fourth woman to win all five disciplines of modern alpine ski racing.

“It’s complicated because no racer is supposed to ski on a race course a week prior to his or her own competition. If Lindsey Vonn could train and compete with the men in November, she would have a huge advantage on her rivals the following week during the women’s races on the same course,” Skaardal said.

The family of Sarah Burke will forever mourn the loss of the deceased 29-year-old skiing star, but fortunately, nearly $200,000 worth of donations have been raised to help cover her medical expenses.

It took just 24 hours after Burke’s tragic Thursday death for the six-figure sum to flood into a fund set up by her agent, Mike Spencer. The money should be enough to cover the nine days of medical care afforded to the British Columbia native at at the University of Utah hospital, according to the Vancouver Sun.

Burke passed away after a Jan. 10 accident in which she fell in a Park City, Utah, superpipe, hitting her head and sustaining both irreversible brain damage and a ruptured artery.

The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association has a comprehensive insurance policy for all its athletes, but the policy only applies to training and competition that’s part of the association’s sanctioned program, such as World Cups, world championships and the X-Games.

Sarah Burke, a Canadian freestyle skier who was expected to excel at the 2014 Winter Olympics, was seriously injured yesterday in a 22-foot halfpipe in Park City, Utah.

Burke hit her head while attempting to land a trick and had to be immediately airlifted to University Hospital in Salt Lake City, according to the New York Times.

“Sarah sustained serious injuries and remains intubated and sedated in critical condition,” neurointensivist Safdar Ansari said in a statement.

Burke, a 29-year-old from Ontario, is a four-time X Games champion. She had successfully lobbied to add halfpipe skiing to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia. She was also expected to defend her X Games gold medal this month in Aspen, Colo.

“Sarah is a very strong young woman, and she will most certainly fight to recover,” husband Rory Bushfield said in a statement.

This sad news comes just two years after champion snowboarder Kevin Pearce sustained a similarly traumatic head injury, also in Park City, on Dec. 31, 2009.