Lindsey Vonn Needs Multiple Surgeries for Broken Leg, Says ACL Injury Didn't Cause Olympics Crash

Lindsey Vonn opened up about her Olympic journey that ended in a crash during the women's downhill competition and said she has "no regrets" in the aftermath. 

She posted a lengthy message on Instagram on Monday and explained the torn ACL she was competing with did not cause the crash. Instead, "I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me."

The American also revealed she suffered a "complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly."

Despite the setback and the "intense physical pain," she explained "I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget. Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport."

The 41-year-old's comeback after approximately six years away from elite ski racing was already one of the major storylines of the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics even before she arrived in Italy.

While she is a four-time overall World Cup champion and three-time Olympic medalist, her age, injury history and time away were all notable. But she wasted no time establishing herself as one of the sport's best yet again and arrived at the Games as the leader in the World Cup downhill standings.

Even after she suffered a torn ACL just days before the Olympics, she completed multiple training runs and seemed to be a medal contender before her crash that happened in the early stages of the race.

She received medical treatment for more than 10 minutes before she was airlifted off the course by helicopter.

Andrew Dampf and Pat Graham of the Associated Press noted an Italian hospital confirmed she "underwent an orthopedic operation to stabilize a fracture reported in her left leg."

Vonn's downhill race ended in disappointment, but her Team USA teammate Breezy Johnson captured gold in a memorable performance. Germany's Emma Aicher won silver, while Italy's Sofia Goggia took home bronze.

Still, the race was at least somewhat overshadowed by Vonn's crash, which left the crowd in stunned silence and ended her dreams of adding another Olympic medal to her resume.

But the legendary skier wasn't focused on the negative and wrote, "I hope if you take away anything from my journey it's that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying."