Lindsey Vonn's crash heightens fear for relatives of Olympic skiers

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.

“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)

WASHINGTON (AP) — Under questioning from Democrats Tuesday, Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick acknowledged that he had met with Jeffrey Epstein twice after his 2008 conviction for soliciting prostitution from a child, reversing Lutnick's previous claim that he had cut ties with the late financier after 2005.

Lutnick again downplayed his relationship with the disgraced financier who was once his neighbor in New York City as he was questioned by Democrats during a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee. He described their contact as a handful of emails and a pair of meetings that were years apart.

“I did not have any relationship with him. I barely had anything to do with him,” Lutnick told lawmakers.

But Lutnick is facing growing scrutiny, including calls for his resignation, from lawmakers after the release of case files on Epstein contradicted Lutnick's claims on a podcast last year that he had decided to “never be in the room” with Epstein again after a 2005 tour of Epstein's home that disturbed Lutnick and his wife.

The commerce secretary told senators Tuesday that he and his family actually had lunch with Epstein on his private island in 2012 and he had another hour-long engagement at Epstein's home in 2011. Lutnick, a member of President Donald Trump's Cabinet, is the highest-profile U.S. official to face bipartisan calls for his resignation amid revelations of his ties to Epstein. His acknowledgement comes as lawmakers are grasping for what accountability looks like amid the revelations contained in what's known as the Epstein files.

In countries like the United Kingdom, the Epstein files have triggered resignations and the stripping of royal privileges, but so far, U.S. officials have not met the same level of retribution.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen, the Democrat who questioned Lutnick, told him, "There's not an indication that you yourself engaged in any wrongdoing with Jeffrey Epstein. It's the fact that you believe that you misled the country and the Congress based on your earlier statements."

Van Hollen, D-Md., stopped short of calling for Lutnick's resignation on Monday, but requested documentation from Lutnick on any of his ties to Epstein.

“It's absolutely essential that he provide Congress with those documents, given the misrepresentations he's made, and then we'll go from there,” he said.

Lutnick during the Senate hearing said he would give that request some thought, adding, “I have nothing to hide.”

However, several Senate Republicans were also questioning Lutnick's relationship with Epstein. Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., said the visit to Epstein's private island “would raise questions.” And Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., told reporters, “It's something I'm concerned with.”

Tillis stayed away from calling for Lutnick to leave his post, but added that “he would do himself a service by just laying exactly what and what did not happen over the course of what seems to be an interesting relationship that included business entanglements.”

Meanwhile, House members who initiated the legislative effort to force the release of the files are calling for Lutnick to resign. Republican Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky called for that over the weekend after emails were released that alluded to the meetings between Lutnick and Epstein.

Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, joined Massie in pressuring Lutnick out of office on Monday.

“Based on the evidence, he should be out of the Cabinet,” Khanna said.

He added, “It's not about any particular person. In this country, we have to make a decision. Are we going to allow the rich and powerful people who are friends and (had) no problem doing business and showing up with a pedophile who is raping underage girls, are we just going to allow them to skate?”

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens as President Donald Trump speaks to reporters as he flies aboard Air Force One from Joint Base Andrews, Md., to West Palm Beach, Fla., Friday, Feb. 6, 2026 (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick and his wife Allison arrive for the premiere of first lady Melania Trump's movie "Melania" at The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, Thursday, Jan. 29, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick listens during an event with President Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)