Lindsey Vonn said her anterior cruciate ligament and previous injuries had “nothing to do” with her fall in Sunday’s downhill race, but admitted she suffered a compound tibia fracture.
In an Instagram post, the 41-year-old said she had no regrets about taking part in the Winter Olympics, despite suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury before the Games and now requiring multiple surgeries.
“Yesterday didn’t end the way I wanted it to, but despite the intense physical pain it caused me, I have no regrets,” Vonn said.
Nine days before Sunday’s accident, Vonn tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee. For professional athletes, this injury would keep them out of action for months, but ski racers sometimes compete in this way. She showed consistency in her two downhill training sessions at the Milan-Cortina Games.
Onlookers on social media wondered whether a torn anterior cruciate ligament played a role in Vonn, who has a record 12 World Cup wins, falling just 13 seconds into the run near the top of the course at Olimpia delle Tofana. Perhaps with a healthy left knee she would have been able to avoid clipping the gate and avoid the collision.
She was on the ground for about 15 minutes before being airlifted off the course, and spectators cheered for her as a helicopter flew over.
“Yesterday, my Olympic dream didn’t end the way I had dreamed,” Vonn said. “It wasn’t the ending of a picture book or Fairy Tail, it was just life.
“I had a dream and worked hard to achieve it, because in downhill ski racing, the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be just five inches.”
“When the line was five inches too tight, my right arm got caught inside the gate and twisted, leading to the crash. My ACL and previous injuries had nothing to do with the crash.”
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Skiing icon Lindsey Vonn was airlifted limping with her weight on her left knee after falling during her final downhill race before the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics.
Vonn’s father said Monday that the American superstar would no longer race if he influenced her decisions.
“She’s 41 years old and this is the end of her career,” Alan Kildow said in a phone interview with The Associated Press. “As long as I have anything to say about it, there will be no more Lindsey Vonn ski races.”
Upon arriving in Cortina last week, Vonn said he consulted with his team of doctors and trainers before deciding to continue racing. The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) has not confirmed the athlete’s injury status.
Use Chrome Browser for a more accessible video player
Lindsey Vonn believes she can compete in the Winter Olympics despite a torn ACL injury.
“We strongly believe that this has to be decided by the individual athlete,” FIS president Johan Elias said in Bormio on Monday. “And in her case, she certainly knows her body’s injuries better than anyone else.
“And if you look at all the players here today, all the players from yesterday, every player has some sort of minor injury.
“What’s also important for people to understand is that the accident she had yesterday was incredibly unlucky. It was one in 1,000,” Eliash added.
“She got too close to the gate and when she was airborne inside the gate she got stuck and started spinning. No one can recover from that unless they do a 360° rotation. … This is part of ski racing. This is a dangerous sport.”
