Lindsey Vonn Wins Gold | Lindsey Vonn Wins Gold medal

Lindsey Vonn wins the gold medal of Olympic downhill Wednesday, Julia Mancuso Vonn’s childhood rival and American teammate took the silver medal. Lindsey Vonn wins gold after she’s finished the first, Mancuso finished 0.56 seconds behind, and Elisabeth Goergl of Austria took the bronze medal, 1.46 seconds back.

Vonn's husband said "She had the weight of the world on her," Vonn’s husband a former U.S. skier who also serves as a personal coach. "People were basically hanging the medal around her neck before the start. That's incredibly hard to deal with."

Several other early starters collapsed in exhaustion upon crossing the finish line, and Dominique Gisin of Switzerland also crashed while landing the final jump. She slid downhill, then was launched back into the air when she hit a bump on the side of the course and landed hard on her back. She sat right up, though, and eventually walked away under her own power.

The next skier, Daniela Merighetti of Italy, fell right before the final jump and went head first through a gate, losing both of her skis. She ended up sliding downhill on her backside, waving to show she was OK to the delight of the fans.

Vonn will be the favorite again for the super-combined race Thursday, which was originally scheduled to open the women's Alpine competition last weekend.