US Skier Lindsey Vonn Reveals Extent of Her Injuries After Brutal Crash Ends Her Olympics — And Possibly Career
Teh piece centers on Lindsey Vonn’s Olympic narrative during the 2026 Winter Games in Italy, highlighting the challenge of a late-career comeback for a skier who had been retired as 2019. It notes that Vonn attempted to compete with one torn ACL, aiming for a storied return at age 41, a feat described as daunting given her injury history. She endured a frightening downhill crash that required airlifting to a hospital, and, a day later, she addressed the incident in a candid Instagram post, saying the dream didn’t end as hoped but emphasizing the effort and hard work behind it. Vonn explained that being “five inches too tight” on her line caused the crash, and she clarified that her torn ACL and past injuries were not to blame; rather, she sustained a complex tibia fracture that will need multiple surgeries. The story also mentions comments from her father, who suggested there may be no more ski races for her, and situates the incident within a broader set of Olympic stories ranging from competitive triumphs to controversies.
The Winter Olympics are officially underway in Italy, and there are already plenty of storylines to emerge from the event that has captured U.S. attention.
(Some of these stories involve actual Olympic competition, while others, not so much.)
One of the more somber American stories to emerge involves decorated U.S. skier Lindsey Vonn.
For the 41-year-old Vonn, the 2026 Winter Olympics were supposed to be a comeback story for the ages.
As The Associated Press reports, Vonn retired in 2019 and remained so for nearly six years. This latest comeback would’ve been daunting for a woman with both ACL’s intact.
However, Vonn didn’t even have that luxury. Vonn was trying to compete in this Winter Olympics with one torn ACL, only adding to this heroic comeback tale.
But that tale was tragically cut short on Sunday, when she had a scary crash during an Olympic event.
BREAKING: 🇺🇸 Lindsey Vonn suffers catastrophic crash during #Olympics downhill run. She would be airlifted to a helicopter 🚁 after 10 minutes on the course. pic.twitter.com/Txkx8dWA9l
— Bill Speros (@billsperos) February 8, 2026
The scary-looking wipeout necessitated Vonn to be airlifted by a helicopter, which eventually whisked her away to a local hospital.
A day later, Vonn is opening up about the harrowing crash.
View this post on Instagram
“Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would,” she posted to Instagram. “It wasn’t a story book ending or a fairy tail, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it. Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.”
Vonn went on to explain that she was simply “too tight” on her line, which caused her arm to get entangled with the gate flag.
“I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash,” she explained.
Vonn did want to clear up what — if any — role her torn ACL and lengthy injury history played in the crash.
“My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever,” she said.
She then opened up about what, exactly, she had injured: “Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.”
While her comeback may not have been the storybook ending she wanted, this event may be all she wrote regardless — if her father has anything to say about it.
“She’s 41 years old and this is the end of her career,” Alan Kildow, Vonn’s father an accomplished skier in his own right, told The Associated Press. “There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”
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