Five months out from her horrific Winter Olympics crash, Lindsey Vonn is still battling serious injuries to both legs, with a left ACL that is completely gone and a right ankle that’s still broken. The former Olympic gold medalist, who previously said the incident nearly forced the amputation of her left leg, appeared on “SportsCenter” on Friday, giving us all an update that shows just how tough this recovery really is.
The Brutal Truth About Her Legs
You’d think after five months, things would be looking up a bit more, right? Not for Vonn. She told us straight up that her left leg, which had its ACL torn in her last downhill before the Olympics, still has no ACL. She needs to get some metal out and then fix that, but get this, it’s not even the main problem! Vonn explained, “My left leg is actually healing really nicely. I still have no ACL, so I need to get the metal out and fix that. But yeah, my right ankle’s been the problem child. It’s still broken, but it doesn’t hurt that much.” Imagine having *no* ACL and that’s the “nicely healing” leg. Her right ankle, the “problem child,” is still broken. That’s a level of pain and persistence that most of us can’t even fathom.
Beyond the Injury Report: A Glimmer of Hope?
Even with all these major issues, Vonn isn’t backing down. She’s been showing her progress on social media since crashing out in Italy, and she hasn’t ruled out a return to competition once she’s fully functional again. She knows all about injuries, having been retired for six years and gone through plenty during her career. But this, she says, is different. “I’ve learned a lot about patience. I though I knew something about it, but it really tested me in so many ways. I felt like I was working so hard but the progress was so slow. The bones don’t heal the same way that ligaments do and I wasn’t quite used to that,” she shared. She added, “this is obviously different. It’s a much longer rehab process. The pain was substantially more than I’ve ever had in the past.”
Despite the brutal rehab at her home in Utah, Vonn has still been out there. She hit the Met Gala in May without crutches, presented the Muhammad Ali Sports Humanitarian Award to Stephen Curry at the ESPYs, and even did her SportsCenter interview from Fanatics Fest in New York. There, she was on a panel with legends like Tom Brady and Serena Williams, discussing owning stakes in women’s sports teams, a world she knows as a minority owner of the NWSL’s Utah Royals. Remember, she tore her ACL preparing for Milano Cortina at 41 years old and still decided to compete in the Olympics anyway. She knew the risks, and she’s got no regrets. Lindsey Vonn’s fight is far from over. Her journey back to full function, and maybe even competition, is clearly a marathon, not a sprint. You gotta respect the grind, even when the body is screaming no. We’ll be watching for every update as she pushes through this unbelievable challenge.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Leave a Reply