Lindsey Vonn underwent surgery on Sunday and is in stable condition after breaking her leg in a nasty crash in the women’s downhill at the Winter Olympics Milano Cortina 2026.
The American ski icon ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) just nine days before the Olympics began in a World Cup race in Switzerland but decided she would give it her all and try for one last Olympic medal.
Her coach Aksel Lund Svindal has revealed that Vonn sent a message of encouragement to her treammate Breezy Johnson before she was airlifted by a helicopter from the slopes. Breezy Johnson went on to win the gold:
“Lindsey. You’re incredibly brave. You inspire people that follow your journey and us that work closely with you every day. Yesterday was a tough day on the mountain. For everyone, but most of all for you. Still something happened that I think says everything. “Tell Breezy congrats and good job”. Your teammate was in the lead, and that’s the message you wanted the US skiteam coaches to remember before you got airlifted to the hospital. Real character shows up in the hard moments.”
The severity of the injury and recovery time has not been specified but we do know that Vonn will not compete in the Super-G and Alpine combined events. Vonn is the 2010 Olympic downhill gold medalist and the all-time leader in World Cup downhill wins with 45. She is currently in the lead for this season’s World Cup downhill standings. Vonn has not issued a statement on what her plans are moving forward but whatever she chooses to do, she will go down as one of the best ski racers in the history of the sport.
