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U.S. Olympic skier Lindsey Vonn said she can finally return home after multiple surgeries.
She is six days removed from an infamous crash, just 13 seconds into her race at the women’s downhill race in Milan Cortina. She has had four operations while confined to an Italian hospital.
“Surgery went well today! Thankfully I will finally be able to go back to the US,” Vonn wrote in an Instagram post.
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Lindsey Vonn of the United States arrives at the finish area for a women’s alpine ski practice at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, on February 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Robert F. Bukaty)
Vonn refrained from revealing certain details about her condition.
“When I’m back I’ll give you more updates and info about my injury,” she added.
“I’ve read a lot of messages and comments saying that what happened to me makes them sad. Please don’t be sad.”
Vonn became one of the top stories of the Winter Games, prompting her return to the world stage after a temporary retirement. She competed just days after an ACL tear. When the crash happened, it sent countless American fans into shock and sent Vonn to the operating table for extensive medical procedures.
“When I think back to my crash, I didn’t stand in the starting gate unaware of the potential consequences. I knew what I was doing. I chose to take a risk. Every skier in that starting gate took the same risk. Because even if you are the strongest person in the world, the mountain always holds the cards,” she added.
“I was willing to risk and push and sacrifice for something I knew I was absolutely capable of doing. I will always take the risk of crashing while giving it my all, rather than not skiing to my potential and regret. I will never cross the finish line and say, ‘what if?’ And to be perfectly honest, I was stronger physically at that moment than I have often been in the past.”
LINDSEY VONN UNDERGOES SURGERY FOR BROKEN LEG AFTER HARD CRASH DURING OLYMPIC RACE
Lindsey Vonn of the United States concentrates ahead of an alpine skiing women’s downhill practice at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Marco Trovati)
She says she believes she felt “stronger” going into this year’s games with a torn ACL than she did in 2019 at the time of her first retirement.
“Definitely stronger than I was when I finished my career in 2019 with a bronze medal at the world championships. And mentally… Mentally I was perfect. Ready, focused, hungry, aggressive and yet completely calm… just like I had been practicing for the last few months when I was on the podium in every downhill this season. 2 wins and led all the men to the Olympic trials… more ready than I’ve ever been,” she said.
“But just because I was ready didn’t guarantee me anything. Nothing in life is guaranteed. That’s the gamble of chasing your dreams, you might fall, but if you don’t try, you’ll never know.”
Her medical procedures may not be over. She suggested she would need further surgeries in a Friday Instagram post.
“I’m finally feeling more like myself, but I have a long, long way to go,” Vonn said Friday.
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Lindsey Vonn of the United States is airlifted after a crash during a women’s alpine skiing downhill race at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
“Tomorrow I have another surgery and hopefully it goes well. And then I can potentially leave and go back home and then have another surgery. I still don’t know exactly what that entails yet until I get some better imaging.”
But now at least she can recover at home.
