Alpine ski legend Lindsey Vonn is competing at the 2026 Olympics in Italy despite a torn cruciate ligament in her left knee.
“Life is not perfect,” said the 41-year-old at a press conference on Tuesday.
Last Friday, Vonn fell badly during the World Cup downhill in Crans-Montana and rushed into a safety net. She was then able to ski to the finish again, but held her left knee several times.
As the American revealed shortly before the start of the Olympics, she tore a cruciate ligament in her left knee.
Lindey Vonn has “no pain”
“I don’t feel any pain,” Vonn explained. After the fall in Crans-Montana, she had “a bad feeling,” “but I kept my hope high, I didn’t cry,” the 41-year-old explained.
On Tuesday she “went skiing, my knee isn’t swollen. I feel better than I did at the World Cup in 2019, and I didn’t have a torn cruciate ligament.” Vonn left it open whether she will compete in further races at the 2026 Olympics after the race in the queen discipline: “The goal is the downhill. I have to wait and see how it feels. I have to drive 85 miles an hour first, then I can say it.”
Spectacular comeback in alpine skiing
Vonn celebrated her highly acclaimed comeback in alpine skiing in December 2024 after five years.
This winter, the American won the downhill runs in St. Moritz and Zauchensee. In doing so, the Alpine skiing icon underlined her Olympic ambitions.
Back in 2010, Vonn was crowned Olympic downhill champion in Vancouver. She also won the bronze medal in the Super-G in Canada. Eight years later, bronze was added in the downhill in Pyeongchang.
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