TO less than a month after the crash on Olympia delle Tofane, the video posted by Lindsey Vonn it doesn’t taste like a daily challenge. For her, no more Olympic dreams or stopwatches to beat: now there is only a gym room, a wheelchair parked in the corner and a champion trying to remind her body how to stand. An image that takes your breath away, like that of fall in the downhill race at Milano Cortina 2026: the features tightened by pain, the leg still deeply marked by the irons and the ferocious determination of someone who risked losing everything and chose to start from scratch.
Lindsey Vonn’s injury at Milano Cortina 2026
The initial clinical picture was dramatic: one serious fracture of the left tibia which was added to a cruciate ligament already compromised by a fall a few days before the Olympics. The risk, in the hours immediately following the fall, was of the worst: Vonn risked having his limb amputatedaverted only thanks to the timely work of Tom Hackett, Team USA’s surgeon. After a series of operations between Italy and the United States, the champion now finds herself faced with one rehabilitation which doctors estimate to be at least a year long.
Sweat and wheelchair: the rehabilitation video
In the video posted on Instagramreality is naked and raw. You can see it wheelchair parked a few meters awaywhile Lindsey Vonn, sitting on the floor, work with dumbbells to avoid losing muscle tone of the upper body. The most exciting moment is when he manages to get back on his feetholding on to a metal bar, with the fixed gaze of someone who doesn’t agree to stay still. It’s a routine made up of electrical stimulation, deep massages and small extension exercises that feel like Himalayan climbs.
«One day at a time»: the champion’s promise
Despite the pain, the 41-year-old skier has not lost the desire to communicate her gratitude. She accompanied the images with a message that has become her mantra: «I’m definitely going through difficult times but I’m still grateful… I’m still working hard. The only goal is to get healthy. One day at a time. I can do it». This determination, which led her to victory in Sankt Moritz only a few months ago, remains intact. For now, the finish line is not the stopwatch of a race, but the reconquest of an everyday life thatinjury he abruptly interrupted.
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