Lindsey Vonn has revealed she suffered a ‘complex tibia fracture’ and will require ‘multiple’ surgeries after the horror crash that ended her Olympic career on Sunday.
In breaking her silence on the ordeal, which has already necessitated two operations, the 41-year-old also insisted her accident in the downhill final in Cortina was not caused by the ruptured knee ligaments she suffered in the same left leg nine days earlier.
Posting on Instagram, the American star said: 'Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would. It wasn't a story book ending or a fairy tale, it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it.
'Because in Downhill ski racing the difference between a strategic line and a catastrophic injury can be as small as 5 inches.
'I was simply 5 inches too tight on my line when my right arm hooked inside of the gate, twisting me and resulted in my crash. My ACL and past injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever.
'Unfortunately, I sustained a complex tibia fracture that is currently stable but will require multiple surgeries to fix properly.
'While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets. Standing in the starting gate yesterday was an incredible feeling that I will never forget.
'Knowing I stood there having a chance to win was a victory in and of itself. I also knew that racing was a risk. It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport. And similar to ski racing, we take risks in life. We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall.
'Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don't achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is the also the beauty of life; we can try. I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.
'I hope if you take away anything from my journey it's that you all have the courage to dare greatly. Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying. I believe in you, just as you believed in me. LV'
The veteran athlete had sped over a hill and careered into one of the plastic markers on the side of the track before hitting the ground during her Olympic final run.
Her right leg appeared to hit the ground first, as a cloud of powder engulfed the American. Vonn then tumbled forwards again, appearing to smash her shoulder into the ground, before coming to a halt on the slope.
The Cortina crowd fell silent as medical crews arrived to attend to Vonn, who was later airlifted off the mountain.
And, a photo from AP, moments before Vonn's crash, shows the skier careering into the ski gate while she was in the air and speeding down the mountain.
Her right arm appeared to be on the wrong side of the gate, and the force of her body was evident as the ski gate seemingly snapped.
Vonn went tumbling seconds after colliding into the gate, with her body rotating 180 degrees before her heavy crash.
Organisers then began to play background music over the skier's cries as she was lifted onto a stretcher.
The downhill event was subsequently suspended, with other competitors removing their skis at the top of the slope as they waited for Vonn to be evacuated.
Distressing scenes then followed, with Vonn, whose skis had not detached from her boots, seen wincing in pain as she lay on her back in the snow. The American was also heard crying out in agony as the medics placed her onto a stretcher.
The injury marks another chapter in a career defined by physical resilience, including three Olympic medals and 20 World Cup crystal globe titles over two decades.
In her 2010 Olympic campaign in Vancouver, Vonn secured the gold medal in the downhill, becoming the first American woman to achieve that specific milestone.
Vonn's career statistics include 45 downhill wins and 28 super-G victories, making her one of the most decorated speed specialists in the history of alpine skiing.
She previously recovered from a complete ACL and MCL tear suffered during the 2013 World Championships in Schladming to return to the top of the podium later.
The current injury occurred during the 2026 Milan-Cortina Games, where Vonn became the oldest woman to ever compete in an Olympic alpine skiing competition.
