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Lindsey Vonn is finally able to come back to the states.
The American skier revealed Saturday afternoon that her fourth surgery for the major tibia fracture she suffered in the women’s downhill event at the start of the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics went well and that she’ll be coming back to the United States soon.
“Surgery went well today!” she wrote in the caption of an Instagram post, three days after her last surgery. “Thankfully I will be able to finally go back to the US 🇺🇸! Once I’m back I will give you more updates and info about my injury.”
The 41-year-old, who had ruptured her ACL in the lead-up to the games but decided to compete anyway, crashed 13.4 seconds into her race last Sunday. She was airlifted off the course at Cortina d’Ampezzo and later revealed she would need multiple procedures to fix the fracture before she could come back to the U.S.
Vonn, despite all the adversity and missing the chance for another gold medal after coming out of retirement for these Winter Games, said folks should not be feeling sad about what happened, but instead should give people a sense of hope and determination to keep going.
“I have been reading a lot of messages and comments saying that what has happened to me makes them sad,” she continued. “Please, don’t be sad. Empathy, love and support I welcome with an open heart, but please not sadness or sympathy. I hope instead it gives you strength to keep fighting, because that is what I am doing and that is what I will continue to do. Always.
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“When I think back on my crash, I didn’t stand in the starting gate unaware of the potential consequences. I knew what I was doing. I chose to take a risk. Every skier in that starting gate took the same risk. Because even if you are the strongest person in the world, the mountain always holds the cards.”
Vonn, a gold medal winner in 2010 in Vancouver, said she was willing to take the risk to comeback to the sport she loved and didn’t want to live with any regret if she instead sat at home.
The injury, she said, is anything but devastating to her.
“But just because I was ready, that didn’t guarantee me anything,” she continued. “Nothing in life is guaranteed. That’s the gamble of chasing your dreams, you might fall but if you don’t try you’ll never know.
“So please, don’t feel sad. The ride was worth the fall. When I close my eyes at night I don’t have regrets and the love I have for skiing remains. I am still looking forward to the moment when I can stand on the top of the mountain once more. And I will.”
English (US)