Lindsey Vonn Lifting Weeks After Fracture
Olympic skiing legend Lindsey Vonn is already lifting weights just weeks after fracturing her leg at the Winter Olympics. Vonn posted videos of her strength training, showing remarkable resilience and determination in her recovery process.
The injury at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics was a complex tibia fracture and a broken ankle. Vonn crashed just 13 seconds into the women's downhill event and had to be airlifted off the mountain. Doctors performed emergency surgery to save her leg from amputation after she developed compartment syndrome, a condition of dangerous pressure buildup in the muscle. The surgeon, Dr. Tom Hackett, was only present because Vonn had torn her ACL in a different crash just weeks before the Olympics. This is far from Vonn's first major injury. Her career has been marked by numerous setbacks, including a torn ACL in 2007, a bruised shin and broken pinkie at the 2010 Olympics, and a shattered humerus bone in 2016. She also missed the 2014 Sochi Olympics entirely due to a severe knee injury. The 41-year-old skiing legend had actually retired from competition in February 2019, becoming the oldest woman to medal at a world championship. However, she announced a comeback in November 2024 after a successful knee replacement surgery eliminated the chronic pain that had led to her retirement. Vonn holds the record for the most World Cup crystal globes with 20 and is the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in downhill skiing, which she achieved at the 2010 Vancouver Games. She has 84 World Cup victories, one of the highest totals for any skier, male or female. Despite the severity of her latest injury, Vonn has stated she has "no regrets" about competing. Her recent social media posts show her already back in the gym, transitioning from a wheelchair to crutches and beginning the long process of rehabilitation.
