Vonn – who is widely regarded as one of the greatest female downhill skiers of her generation – missed out on securing her second Olympic gold during the downhill, losing out to Italian Sofia Goggia. Goggia made history to become the first Italian to win the women’s downhill. She clocked a time of one minute 39.22 seconds to clinch gold ahead of Norway's Ragnhild Mowinckel who was just 0.09 secs behind while Vonn finished with a time of 1:39.69. At 33 years old, Vonn’s bronze medal makes her the oldest female medalist in Alpine skiing but the Games in PyeongChang are likely to be her last.

BBC SPORT Winter Olympics 2018: Lindsey Vonn broke down in tears after winning bronze in the women's downhill

Injuries have blighted Vonn’s career, one of the worst being a season-ending injury during the 2013 World Championship. Vonn crashed heavily in the Super-G and needed to be airlifted to hospital. It was later confirmed the skier had suffered tears to the medial collateral and anterior cruciate ligaments in her right knee as well as a fractured tibial plateau. And while she was preparing to return in time for the 2014 Games in Sochi, she re-injured the same knee by suffering a torn ACL and MCL sprain. After battling back to fitness – with various other injuries along the way including fracturing her arm and ankle – Vonn was able to compete in this year’s Winter Olympics for what is expected to be the final time.

BBC SPORT Winter Olympics 2018: Vonn was comforted by Brit skier Chemmy Alcott during an emotional interview

I really want to keep racing forever, but I can’t Lindsey Vonn

But the Minnesota born racer couldn’t quite add to her gold medal collection. In an emotional post-race interview with Brit skier Chemmy Alcott, Vonn broke down in tears after missing out on the gold. “It was intense,” she said. “I think mostly it was intense because I wanted to win for my grandpa. “It’s hard to process it’s my last Olympic downhill race. “I really want to keep racing forever, but I can’t. “I’m really proud to walk away with a medal. I'm sure a lot of people will say I should have gotten a gold but it’s so hard to win a medal at the Olympics.”

AFP Winter Olympics 2018: Vonn became the oldest female medalist in Alpine skiing after winning bronze