Lindsey Vonn said she has “no regrets” after a devastating crash in the women’s downhill final at the 2026 Winter Olympics left her with injuries that will require multiple surgeries.
The five-time Olympian addressed the incident in an Instagram post on Monday, Feb. 9, just hours after being airlifted from the course following the crash at the Milan Cortina Games.
Reflecting on the moment, Vonn wrote, “Yesterday, my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn’t a storybook ending or a fairy tale, 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 explained that she caught her ski pole on a course marker within that narrow margin, causing her to twist and fall. She was also quick to clarify, “My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.”
Medical evaluations later confirmed that Vonn “sustained a complex tibia fracture” that is stable but “will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.” Despite the severity of the injury and what she described as “intense physical pain,” Vonn emphasized her gratitude for the chance to compete once more on the Olympic stage.
She called the experience of standing in the starting gate unforgettable and acknowledged the ever-present risks that come with downhill ski racing.
After tumbling through the air and crashing hard onto the snow, Vonn was placed on a stretcher and airlifted to Ca’ Foncello Hospital in Treviso, Italy, where she underwent surgery to stabilize a fracture in her left leg.
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U.S. Ski & Snowboarding confirmed that she was “stable” and receiving treatment from a joint team of American and Italian physicians.
The crash came just one week after Vonn revealed she had “completely” ruptured her ACL in her final World Cup race before the Olympics. Despite the injury, she decided to compete, framing the downhill as what she believed would be her final Olympic appearance, and a last, daring comeback attempt on the sport’s biggest stage.
Lindsey Vonn’s Father Calls Crash The End Of Her Career
One day after the crash, Lindsey Vonn’s father, Alan Kildow, said he hopes the accident brings an end to her competitive skiing career.
“She’s 41 years old, and this is the end of her career,” Kildow told the Associated Press on Monday, Feb. 9. “There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.”
Vonn had returned to Olympic competition following a knee replacement and her 2019 retirement, electing to race in Cortina d’Ampezzo, one of her favorite and most successful courses, even after suffering a complete ACL rupture just a week earlier.
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Only 13 seconds into her Olympic downhill run, she clipped a course marker with her ski pole, lost her balance, and crashed, ultimately being airlifted to a hospital in Treviso, where she underwent surgery on the same leg.
Family members and officials said she remained in stable condition following the procedure. The crash ended Vonn’s final Olympic race and left her facing further medical treatment as recovery planning begins.
