CORTINA D’AMPEZZO, Italy (AP) — Most television viewers who watched Lindsey Vonn's horrifying crash couldn't shift their focus from the writhing skier in the moments before she was airlifted off the Olympic downhill course.
Not so for those whose loved ones were competing immediately afterward.
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United States' Jacqueline Wiles, left, and teammate United States' Paula Moltzan show their bronze medals in an alpine ski, women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
United States' Jacqueline Wiles, left, and Paula Moltzen pose with their bronze medals of a women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
A rescue helicopter arrives after United States' Lindsey Vonn crashed during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
United States' Jacqueline Wiles speeds down the course during an alpine ski, downhill portion of a women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
“I could only think of Jackie,” said Maxime Boutemy, whose girlfriend, Jacqueline Wiles, was set to compete three skiers after Vonn.
“We were (pooping) our pants.”
Wiles completed her run Sunday without issue and finished fourth. Shortly afterward, two more skiers crashed, one of whom had to be airlifted. Last weekend, Wiles raced in Switzerland and was unscathed while three of her five competitors crashed.
Wiles and Paula Moltzan won the bronze medal for the U.S. in the team combined on Tuesday.
Families of skiers have always worried about the safety of their loved ones, but Vonn's crash has only heightened those fears. Wiles' loved ones said that, instead of rooting for her to medal, they're now just hoping she makes it down the slope.
Vonn’s father said Monday that the American star will no longer race if he has any influence over her decision and that she will not return to the Winter Olympics after breaking her left leg in the downhill.
“She’s 41 years old and this is the end of her career,” Alan Kildow said.
Throughout Wiles' childhood in Oregon and burgeoning ski career, father David Wiles said he rooted for her success in competitions. Then came a fall on a course in Germany, just a week before she was set to compete at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. She tore several knee ligaments, an injury that ended her season.
“Before she crashed in 2018, whenever I'd watch her, I just wanted her to ski fast,” David Wiles said. “But then, now when I watch races, I have a more visceral reaction. I want her to be safe.”
Then, last July, Wiles — who wants to be a pilot — was a passenger on a training flight with Boutemy in Sisters, Oregon, when their plane dovetailed and crashed. The aircraft had been too heavy, the air density too low, the runway too short. Boutemy managed to get Wiles out of the wreckage before it was engulfed in flames. She suffered a concussion and burns, and he was relatively unscathed. The pilot also survived.
“She thinks about it every day,” said Boutemy, an electrical engineer.
Wiles still hopes to be a pilot once she retires from skiing, her father said. But she hasn't flown since.
“I get anxious now for a race. When she fell, she was out for a year and a half and most people would have said I'm done, but she kept fighting,” David Wiles said.
“But,” he added, “it makes her so happy, and as a parent you want your kids to be happy. She's doing it because she wants to do it, not me. Do I enjoy watching it? Yeah. Am I proud of her? Yes. But it's her life.”
Speaking at a news conference Monday, Vonn's teammates said they knew their choice of career could prompt worry from family members.
Nina O'Brien said she didn't speak much with her family about Vonn's injury.
“I think all of us ski racers know, unfortunately, injury can be a pretty big part of this sport, and it’s painful and you don’t know when it will strike,” she said.
“That’s something that we all have to accept and somehow compartmentalize and put aside what we get in to the starting gate. For me, personally, the healthiest way is to try and forget that for the moment and just focus on whatever I need to do in order to perform.”
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
United States' Jacqueline Wiles, left, and teammate United States' Paula Moltzan show their bronze medals in an alpine ski, women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)
United States' Jacqueline Wiles, left, and Paula Moltzen pose with their bronze medals of a women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
A rescue helicopter arrives after United States' Lindsey Vonn crashed during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
United States' Jacqueline Wiles speeds down the course during an alpine ski, downhill portion of a women's team combined race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, Tuesday, Feb. 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
HELSINGBORG, Sweden (AP) — NATO allies and defense officials expressed bewilderment Friday at U.S. President Donald Trump’s announcement that he would send 5,000 U.S. troops to Poland just weeks after ordering the same number of forces pulled out of Europe.
The apparent change of mind came after weeks of statements from Trump and his administration about reducing — not increasing — the U.S. military footprint in Europe. Trump's initial order set off a flurry of action among military commanders and left allies already doubtful about America's commitment to Europe's security to ponder what forces they might have to backfill on NATO's eastern flank with Russia and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration said it was reducing levels in Europe by about 5,000 troops, and U.S. officials confirmed about 4,000 service members were no longer rotating into Poland from Germany. The dispatch to Germany of U.S. personnel trained to fire long-range missiles was also halted.
But in a post on Truth Social on Thursday, Trump said he would now send "an additional 5,000 Troops to Poland,” citing his strong ties with Polish President Karol Nawrocki, whom Trump endorsed in elections last year.
“It is confusing indeed, and not always easy to navigate,” Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard told reporters Friday at a meeting she was hosting of her NATO counterparts, including U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
Ministers from the Netherlands and Norway were sanguine about Trump’s latest move, as was Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže, who said allies knew the U.S. troop “posture was being reconsidered, and now there is no change of posture. For now.”
U.S. defense officials also expressed confusion. “We just spent the better part of two weeks reacting to the first announcement. We don’t know what this means either,” said one of two officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive military matters.
But Rubio said Washington’s allies understand that changes in the U.S. troop presence in Europe will come as the Trump administration reevaluates its force needs. “I think there’s a broad recognition that there are going to be eventually less U.S. troops in Europe than there has historically been for a variety of reasons,” he said.
The latest surprise came despite a U.S. pledge to coordinate troop deployments, including one from NATO’s top military officer, U.S. Lt. Gen. Alex Grynkewich, on Wednesday.
Trump's initial announcement that he would withdraw troops came as he fumed over remarks by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said that the U.S. was being “humiliated” by the Iranian leadership and criticized what he called a lack of strategy in that war.
Trump told reporters that the U.S. would be cutting even more than 5,000 and also announced new tariffs on European cars. Germany is the continent’s biggest auto producer.
Rubio insisted that Trump’s decision “is not a punitive thing. It’s just something that’s ongoing.”
About 80,000 U.S. troops are stationed in Europe. The Pentagon is required to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment on the continent unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests.
The withdrawal of 5,000 troops might drop numbers below that limit.
But Trump's latest post suggests that troop numbers in Europe would not change. Polish Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski welcomed the decision to send more forces to his country, saying it ensures that “the presence of American troops in Poland will be maintained more or less at previous levels.”
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte also welcomed the move. On Thursday, before Trump took to Truth Social again, Rutte had underlined that it was important for Europe to take care of its own security. “We have a process in place. This is normal business,” he told reporters.
At NATO headquarters in Brussels, meanwhile, U.S. officials briefed the allies on the Pentagon's aims for its commitments to the NATO Force Model, which involves contingency planning for Europe’s defense in the event of serious security concerns. It was widely expected that a further reduction of U.S. forces would be coming.
Asked whether any cuts were announced, Rutte said: “I’m afraid it’s much more complicated than that.” He said the procedure “is highly classified” and declined to give details.
Rubio played down concerns about a shift in U.S. force levels in Europe, saying: "Every country has to constantly reevaluate what their needs are, what their commitments are around the world, and how to properly structure that.”
Cook reported from Brussels. Associated Press writer Emma Burrows in London contributed.
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with journalists during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, front second left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, front left, speak with each other during a group photo at a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte look at each other as they deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
Latvian Foreign Minister Baiba Braže speaks at the doorstep of the NATO foreign ministers' meeting at Sea U in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
United States Secretary of State Marco Rubio, left, and NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte deliver a statement during a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Secretary of State Marco Rubio arrives with his wife Jeanette at Malmo Airport, Friday, May 22, 2026, in Malmo-Sturup, Sweden, ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson, Pool)
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, second from left, shakes hands with Prime Minister of Sweden Ulf Kristersson, as he is greeted by King Carl Gustaf of Sweden, Queen Silvia of Sweden and Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden Maria Malmer Stenergard, right, before a dinner at Sofiero Castle in Helsingborg, Sweden, Thursday May 21 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard speaks to media at the NATO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden, Friday, May 22, 2026. (Johan Nilsson/TT News Agency via AP)
