NEWYou can now listen to Pakinomist articles!
American Olympian Lindsey Vonn said Monday that she has not been able to stand on her own two feet for over a week, but was happy to be back in the United States.
Vonn suffered massive Olympic heartbreak on Feb. 8 when she broke her leg in a hard crash in women’s alpine skiing earlier in the 2026 Cortina Games in Milan. She tried to fight through a torn ACL to make the podium, but the latest injury set her back further.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON Pakinomist
USA’s Lindsey Vonn (R) talks with her Norwegian coach Aksel Lund Svindal (L) prior to an official training session for the women’s downhill during the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at the Tofane Alpine Ski Center in Cortina d’Ampezzo on February 7, 2026. (Marco BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images)
She had since revealed that she underwent several surgeries to repair the leg. She said she will likely need more surgery back in the US
“Haven’t been on my feet in over a week…laying in a hospital bed motionless since my race. And even though I’m not able to stand yet, it feels great to be back on home turf,” she wrote in a post on X.
“Huge thanks to everyone in Italy for taking such good care of me.”
Vonn, 41, needed to be lifted from an Italian mountain in a terrifying scene during her downhill competition.
THE AMERICAN SKATEER ISABEAU LEVITO IS BLOWN AWAY IN OLYMPIC VILLAGE: ‘YOU CAN’T TAKE ME AWAY’
Lindsey Vonn speeds down the track during the women’s official alpine training at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on February 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati))
Officials at an Italian hospital where Vonn was rushed after the crash said she underwent surgery to “stabilize a fracture that was reported in her left leg.” Vonn had said she suffered a “complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to properly repair.”
Before the Games began, many wondered how Vonn would ski on her torn ACL, but she was determined to try to medal in her signature event. Her runs on Friday and Saturday went well, but she lost control a few seconds into the race and things got very serious afterwards.
Vonn said last week that she had no regrets about her decision to race.
“While yesterday didn’t end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it brought, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget,” she wrote in a separate Instagram post. “Knowing that I was standing there and had a chance to win was a victory in itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always has been and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.
“And like skiing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall. Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that’s also the beauty of life; we can try.
Lindsey Vonn of the United States crashes during a women’s downhill skiing event at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE Pakinomist APP
“I tried. I dreamed. I jumped.”
