Lindsey Vonn’s extraordinary comeback after almost six years away from ski racing is not going to be derailed by a fall suffered last week in Switzerland. Vonn introduced Tuesday that she had ruptured her proper ACL, however after some pre-Olympics apply runs, she is going to proceed to ski at Cortina d’Ampezzo in the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“This is not, obviously, what I had hoped for,” Vonn stated in a information convention on Tuesday. “I’ve been working really hard to come into these Games in a much different position. I know what my chances were before the crash, and I know my chances aren’t the same as it stands today, but I know there’s still a chance, and as long as there’s a chance, I will try.”
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The 41-year-old American additionally introduced that she suffered bone bruising and meniscal harm in the fall that occurred one week earlier than the Opening Ceremony of those Games.
“Considering how my knee feels,” Vonn stated, “I feel stable, I feel strong, my knee is not swollen, and with the help of a knee brace, I am confident that I can compete on Sunday.”
Sunday could be the ladies’s downhill, an occasion Vonn received on the 2010 Olympics.
Vonn received off-balance popping out of a soar in the higher part of the World Cup downhill race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland, on Jan. 30. She was unable to get better and fell at excessive pace, skidding throughout the snow earlier than careening into the orange security netting on the aspect of the course.
While Vonn was in a position to get to her ft and slowly and gingerly make her down the remainder of the course, she stopped a number of occasions to grasp at her left knee and appeared to keep away from placing any weight on it. Vonn was airlifted from the race space as a precaution.
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Later on Jan. 30, Vonn expressed optimism by way of Instagram that her “Olympic dream is not over.” She wrote that she was “discussing the situation” with docs and “will continue to undergo further exams.”
“This is a very difficult outcome one week before the Olympics … but if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s a comeback,” Vonn added.
Now, she’ll try to come again from one more damage, this time simply days earlier than the Olympics are set to start.
Vonn wasn’t the one skier to crash amid antagonistic circumstances and poor visibility in Crans-Montana. Austria’s Nina Ortlieb and Norway’s Marte Monsen, two of the 5 skiers who began earlier than Vonn, additionally failed to full their runs, prompting organizers to cancel the remainder of the competitors.
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“The main reason is the safety of the athletes,” Women’s World Cup Race Director Peter Gerdol defined. “The visibility was getting worse and worse, they couldn’t see the race line properly and it caused mistakes. We saw six athletes starting and all six had some mistakes. This was a sign that it was a high-risk situation.”
Vonn was poised to be one of many faces of the Milan-Cortina Games thanks to a comeback story that defied all cheap expectations. Now that story will solely achieve momentum if she makes it to the beginning gate.
The four-time general World Cup champion and 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist retired in 2019 as a result of the bodily toll of her many accidents had develop into an excessive amount of to bear. When she underwent proper knee surgical procedure in April 2024, her aim was nothing greater than to give you the chance to dwell a standard, pain-free life.
Vonn felt so a lot better after her partial knee alternative surgical procedure that she made a surprising announcement in November 2024 that she was un-retiring. She has been dominant in downhill races this World Cup season and completed on the rostrum in two of her first three super-G races, elevating hopes that she will contend for medals in each disciplines in Cortina.
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The girls’s downhill competitors is scheduled for Feb. 8 and the ladies’s super-G will happen 4 days later. Vonn stated her plan continues to be to compete in each.
Vonn might have skipped the notoriously treacherous Crans-Montana downhill, however she selected to race in hopes of accumulating extra World Cup factors. She entered the race leading the downhill standings and sixth in the overall competition.
Rather than enjoying it protected in poor circumstances with the Olympics simply days away, Vonn went all-out. She roared out of the beginning home and registered the quickest time by the primary checkpoint.
For higher or worse, Vonn was at all times going to go for it.
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“Unfortunately, in my career, I’ve had a lot of challenges,” Vonn stated. “I’ve always pushed the limits, and in downhill, it’s a very dangerous sport, and anything can happen. Because I’ve pushed the limits, I crash, and I’ve been injured more times than I would like to … As many times as I crash, I’ve always gotten back up, as many times as I’ve failed, I’ve always won.”
That’s how her exceptional comeback made it this far. The query now could be, will the injured left permit her to compete at her finest.
“I’m not letting this slip through my fingers,” Vonn stated. “I’m going to do it. End of story.”