Lindsey Vonn Reveals Amputation Scare Before Doctor 'Saved' Her Leg After Injury from Crash in Video

American skier Lindsey Vonn announced Monday she's out of the hospital following her crash during the 2026 Winter Olympics.

In a video posted to social media, the three-time medalist also detailed the scale of her injuries. She suffered a compound fracture to her tibia and had compartment syndrome. Alleviating the pressure was necessary to avoid amputating her leg altogether.

Vonn also said there was a silver lining to her tearing her ACL prior to the Winter Games. Her regular orthopedic surgeon, Tom Hackett, was already in Italy and could operate on her immediately.

"Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg," she said. "He saved my leg from being amputated."

Having come out of retirement, Vonn achieved her goal by qualifying for Team USA in the 2026 Olympics. She was performing so well on the World Cup circuit that she tentatively planned to compete through the end of the 2025-26 season, which wraps up in March.

The 41-year-old's time in Milano Cortina came to a crushing end, however. During her run in the women's downhill, her pole got snagged on a gate and she was thrown off balance mid-air. She landed awkwardly and crashed hard into the snow.

Trainers tended to Vonn before she was airlifted off the slope.

Especially with the severity of Vonn's leg injuries now clear, her competitive skiing career is almost certainly over. The Associated Press' Andrew Dampf and Pat Graham spotlighted one way in which the situation could have wider lasting effects.

Dampf and Graham laid out how ski bindings have generally remained unchanged for decades when it comes to the highest levels of the sport. Vonn's crash may help to spur change.

A system in which the bindings release more easily could theoretically lower the likelihood of a major injury when a skier crashes.