Lindsey Vonn: No Regrets After Olympic Crash, Leg Injury

Lindsey Vonn has no regrets about her decision to race in the 2026 Olympics, even though it nearly cost her everything.

The five-time Olympian crashed just 13 seconds into her downhill run in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, resulting in catastrophic injuries that almost led to losing her left leg. She'd already torn her ACL two weeks before the race but chose to compete anyway.

"I was strong no matter my age, and I was ready," Vonn told ESPN in her first interview since the accident. "I made a small error and that's the price I paid, but I would do it all again if I had the chance."

The crash came at the peak of her comeback. Vonn had returned to competitive skiing after six years of retirement and was the top-ranked downhill skier in the world heading into the Olympics. She'd won two World Cup races and landed on three podiums that season.

Two months later, after five surgeries and two weeks hospitalized in Italy, Vonn is relearning to do simple tasks. She spent over a month in a wheelchair and now walks short distances with crutches. Her daily routine includes more than two hours of physical therapy.

"What's going to make me happy is just being a normal person," she said. "You really take for granted things like taking a shower, carrying things, getting up in the morning and making myself breakfast."

Why This Inspires

Vonn's recovery journey shows what resilience looks like in real time. While her broken ankle has healed and her leg fractures are mending, she still faces at least one more surgery to remove hardware and repair her ACL. Yet she's measuring success differently now, celebrating pull-ups in the gym and short walks as major victories.

At 41, she proved age doesn't define athletic capability. She was competing at the highest level against skiers half her age and winning.

And she hasn't ruled out racing again. "I still haven't processed the fact that my Olympics are over," she said. "I may never race again, but I haven't made any determinations on the future."

For now, Vonn is focused on the small gains that will add up to independence, proving that sometimes the biggest comebacks happen one step at a time.