Commentary said her ski dug in (soft snow) and caused her to lose her line/get pushed right and into the gate
Light changed pretty abruptly and became flat between MS and Vonn. A few crashes after that.
I watched the replay of the entire race last night, LV did a short interview leaving the medical area. One of her comments was "the light changed just before I started, and, I had the wrong goggles on". For sure, after the hold to tend to LV, the light really deteriorated, felt bad for those who had to ski in those conditions. Luck of the draw for start position can be a major factor in determining the winner.
They showed video of Mikela watching LV's run, and, her face just went totally blank, then she turned and bent over, a very emotional response from someone who understands the risks. One of the announcers stated that the German team indicates there is mounting pressure by parents for young racers to avoid speed racing due to injury risk.
I hope LV walks away after this fall, doubtful her competitive juices will let her. Risk is just too great.
Yup, conditions can change from racer to racer (wind, vis, snow condition, snow falling slowing the track, etc.) This to me makes the winners in SL/GS at the top levels so impressive as the leaders are skiing their 2nd runs on the worst track condition.
Interesting that Vonn is on the start order for the Alpine Combined. She has been a DNS in the 2 DH training runs. Maybe she hopes to feel ok to run the DH portion of the combined. The last and final training run is Sat.