In a heartfelt statement from her hospital bed, American skiing legend Lindsey Vonn confirmed she suffered a “complex tibia fracture” following a catastrophic crash during the women’s downhill at the 2026 Winter Olympics, an injury she said will require multiple surgeries to repair.
The 41-year-old champion, who was airlifted from the Olympia delle Tofane slope in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, after the fall, expressed no regrets about her decision to compete, even revealing she had raced with a torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) sustained just nine days prior.
“While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets,” Vonn wrote in an Instagram post that served as her first public comments since Sunday’s crash.
She described the razor-thin margin for error in her sport, noting, “In Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches. 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.”
Vonn was emphatic that her pre-existing knee injury was not a factor, stating, “My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.”
The crash occurred just 13 seconds into her run, abruptly ending what was poised to be a historic Olympic finale to one of alpine skiing’s most celebrated careers.
Vonn had mounted a remarkable comeback after nearly six years of retirement, returning to competition in late 2024. This season, she reestablished herself as the world’s top speed skier, leading the World Cup downhill standings and entering the Games as a favorite for gold.
Her journey to the starting gate was a testament to her resilience, having consulted with physicians and successfully completed two training runs on the injured knee.
“Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself,” Vonn reflected. “I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport.”
Vonn’s statement prompted an outpouring of support from fellow athletes and fans worldwide, while also reigniting debate about an athlete’s autonomy to compete while injured.
Her father, Alan Kildow, a former ski racer himself, voiced a paternal desire for his daughter’s career to end. “She’s 41 years old, and this is the end of her career,” Kildow said in an interview with The Associated Press. “There will be no more ski races for Lindsey Vonn, as long as I have anything to say about it.” He added that she was emotionally handling the setback with characteristic strength.
Officials from skiing’s governing body and the Olympic Committee defended the principle of athlete choice. International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) president Johan Eliasch called the crash a “one in a 1,000” occurrence of bad luck, unrelated to her knee.
“I firmly believe that this has to be decided by the individual athlete,” Eliasch said. Fellow competitors echoed this sentiment. American downhiller Kyle Negomir said, “Lindsey’s a grown woman, and the best speed skier to ever do this sport. If she made her decision, I think she should absolutely be allowed to take that risk.”
Vonn’s Instagram post transcended the specifics of the crash, evolving into a meditation on risk, ambition, and living without regret. “And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall,” she wrote.
She concluded with a succinct and powerful summary of her Olympic journey: “I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.” With 84 World Cup wins and three Olympic medals, including downhill gold in 2010, Vonn’s legacy as an American sports icon is secure.