Last week, United States skiing legend Lindsey Vonn suffered a devastating injury after a major crash at the Olympics while skiing on a torn ACL. Now, she’s opening up about just how severe the injury was.
In the days leading up to the 2026 Winter Olympics, Vonn tore her ACL, but then announced plans to compete anyway in what figures to be her final Olympics. However, things did not go according to plan.
Just a few seconds into her run at the Olympics, Vonn lost control, clipping a gate with her right shoulder and tumbling down the slope awkwardly. As a result of the crash, Vonn had to be taken to safety by a rescue helicopter.
Though Vonn was skiing on a torn ACL, she quickly took to Instagram to make it clear that her torn ACL “had nothing to do” with the crash.
“Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. 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 wrote in a post on Instagram.
“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. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.”
Now, several days after her injury, Vonn has given a rather grim update on her injury as she said that her leg is “still in pieces” and that it was “a lot more severe” than a simple broken leg.
“My leg is still in pieces… but I’m finally HOME!” Vonn wrote in a post on Instagram. “My injury was a lot more severe than just a broken leg. I’m still wrapping my head around it, what it means and the road ahead…. but I’m going to give you more detail in the coming days.”
Vonn has already had four surgeries in Italy, and she’s previously said that she will need at least one more after she returns to the United States.
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