Lindsey Vonn Races Olympic Comeback Week After Torn ACL

Most athletes would be sidelined for months after tearing their ACL, but Lindsey Vonn isn't most athletes.

The legendary downhill skier suffered a devastating crash just one week ago during her final Olympic tune-up event, tearing her ACL and requiring an airlift to the hospital. With her event scheduled for Sunday, February 8, most would have called it impossible.

Instead, Vonn posted a workout video showing her powering through intense lower body exercises with a massive brace on her injured left knee. "I'm not giving up," she wrote to her followers. "Working as hard as I can to make it happen!"

The comeback story started long before this latest setback. Vonn retired in 2019 after persistent injuries cut short one of the most decorated careers in skiing history: one Olympic gold medal, two world championships, and 84 World Cup victories.

After a total knee replacement, she shocked the world by returning to competition in 2024. By December 2025, she had won her first World Cup race in six years at St. Moritz, Switzerland, followed by another victory in Austria just weeks later.

Vonn was heading into the Milan-Cortina Olympics as a genuine medal threat at age 41. Then came the crash that would have ended most Olympic dreams.

"I've been in this position before," Vonn said Tuesday with remarkable calm. "I know how to handle it. I've been on the world stage before."

Why This Inspires

What makes Vonn's story so powerful isn't just her physical recovery, though that's remarkable enough. It's her refusal to accept defeat when defeat seems like the only reasonable option.

She's already proven that age is just a number by competing at world-class levels in her 40s. She's already shown that career-ending injuries don't have to be career-ending by returning after a total knee replacement.

Now she's attempting something that seems medically impossible: competing in one of the world's most demanding sports while skiing down mountains at 80 miles per hour, just days after tearing the ligament that provides crucial knee stability.

Her message resonates far beyond the ski slopes. It's a reminder that the only person who gets to decide when your dream is over is you.

Vonn's team and medical staff are working around the clock to make Sunday possible. Whether she medals, finishes, or even starts the race, she's already won by refusing to quit.

"Keep believing," she told her supporters, and after watching her relentless determination, it's impossible not to.