Lindsey Vonn secured the Olympic downhill title in 2010.
Lindsey Vonn has expressed uncertainty regarding the future of her skiing career, admitting she is in “survival mode” following a crash at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The American athlete, widely considered one of the sport’s all-time greats, has undergone eight surgeries since sustaining a leg and ankle fracture during the women’s downhill event in Italy on February 8.
The 41-year-old had previously stated that surgical intervention prevented the amputation of her leg following the incident.
“I just don’t want to jump to any conclusions or even speculate on what I might do,” Vonn told the Associated Press., external
“I may retire. I may never race again and that would be completely fine, but I’m not in a position emotionally to make that decision at this point.”
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Vonn crashes out of Winter Olympics downhill
The 2010 Olympic downhill champion mentioned that she has “one more surgery left to take out the metal and to replace my [anterior cruciate ligament] ACL,” followed by an extensive recovery period.
“Once I get my ACL fixed, then that’s another six months, so I have at least a year and a half ahead of me before I could really be back to 100%, even just training in the gym,” she added.
Vonn was competing at the Olympics in Cortina nine days after tearing ligaments in her left knee when she collided with a gate and crashed 13 seconds into her downhill run.
She was subsequently airlifted off the course and diagnosed with a complex tibia fracture in her left leg.
“I’m still in survival mode. I just want to get through this phase and be able to assess where I am in my life,” stated Vonn, who secured her two world titles in 2009.
“I don’t want to make a decision now because I think that would be rash and probably too emotional and I don’t want to make a mistake.”
Vonn, boasting 84 World Cup victories and ranking second on the all-time women’s list behind fellow American Mikaela Shiffrin, had previously endured several severe leg injuries before initially retiring from the sport in 2019.
Following a partial right knee replacement, she announced her unexpected return in 2024.
Vonn was anticipated to contend for a medal at her fifth and final Olympics, participating despite suffering the ACL injury in Switzerland during the last World Cup race before the Games.
She described the injury sustained at the Games as “much different” from any previous ones in terms of “the severity of the injury and understanding that I could have lost my leg and how bad things were.”
She added: “I can deal with a lot of pain, but this was so extreme. It’s not even been in the universe of pain as what I’ve had before.”
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