The 41-year-old champion has not yet decided whether to retire from competitive activity. Since the terrible fall on February 8th, he has undergone 8 operations and will have to face at least one more
“I don’t want to jump to conclusions or speculate about what I might do. I might retire. I might never compete again and that would be fine, but I’m not emotionally ready to make that decision right now.” Lindsey Vonn is still recovering physically and emotionally from her scary fall at the Winter Olympics. For now, difficult decisions about the future can wait. The American champion underwent eight surgeries after the complex fracture of her left leg – which risked leading to amputation – suffered during the women’s downhill race on February 8th. At least one more will be needed to repair the rupture of the anterior cruciate ligament in the same knee.
return hypothesis
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So if the 41-year-old (42 in October) were to return to competing, her return would be at least a year and a half away, Vonn told The Associated Press in an interview. Vonn has already recovered from several injuries in the past and has a titanium prosthesis in her right knee. “This is a very different injury, especially the severity and knowing that I could lose my leg and how serious the situation was,” Vonn said. “I can handle a lot of pain, but this was really extreme. It doesn’t even compare to the pain I’ve felt with previous injuries,” he confirmed.
the family
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The family is against a return to skiing, already the day after the injury her father invited Lindsey to stop: “He says it with the best intentions. He forgot the fundamental rule with me: if you don’t want me to do something, you don’t have to tell me I can’t. Tell me I can’t and I’ll prove you otherwise.” Against risks and fear, also because “downhill is one of the most dangerous sports in the world, and it is a risk that I have always willingly accepted, and this is the result, and I don’t regret it”. Concludes Vonn: “I’m still in survival mode: I just want to get through this and be able to evaluate where I am in my life. And take stock of what I’ve done, what could still be, and make decisions in a much better place than I’m in now.”
La Gazzetta dello Sport
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