‘I have no regrets’: Lindsey Vonn defiant after Olympic crash leaves her with complex leg fracture
Lindsey Vonn crashed just 13 seconds into Sunday’s race after striking a gate while already racing with ruptured ligaments in her left knee.
In this image taken from video provided by Olympic Broadcasting Services, OBS, Lindsey Vonn crashes during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo. (Olympic Broadcasting Services via AP)
American ski great Lindsey Vonn said she has “no regrets” after suffering a complex tibia fracture in a dramatic crash during the women’s downhill at the Winter Olympics in Cortina, an injury that will require multiple surgeries.
The 41-year-old, competing at her fifth and final Olympic Games, crashed just 13 seconds into Sunday’s race after striking a gate while already racing with ruptured ligaments in her left knee. Thrown violently off balance, Vonn was left screaming in pain on the course and required prolonged medical attention before being airlifted to a hospital in Treviso.
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Vonn, the 2010 Olympic downhill champion, later underwent surgery on her fractured left leg.
“Yesterday my Olympic dream did not finish the way I dreamt it would,” Vonn wrote in a post on Instagram on Monday. “It wasn’t a storybook ending or a fairytale; it was just life. I dared to dream and had worked so hard to achieve it.”
“While yesterday did not end the way I had hoped, and despite the intense physical pain it caused, I have no regrets,” she added. “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.”
Vonn had torn the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in her left knee just nine days before the Games began, adding to a long list of injuries sustained over a decorated but physically punishing career. She has also previously undergone a partial right knee replacement.
The two-time world champion insisted her injuries were not responsible for the crash. “The torn ACL and my previous injuries had nothing to do with my crash whatsoever,” she said.
This combination of images shows the United States’ Lindsey Vonn crashing during an alpine ski women’s downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Her decision to compete despite the risks prompted both widespread admiration for her courage and criticism over the potential for long-term damage. Vonn addressed that debate directly.
“It always was and always will be an incredibly dangerous sport,” she said. “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 also the beauty of life; we can try.”
“I hope if you take away anything from my journey, it’s that you all have the courage to dare greatly,” Vonn added. “Life is too short not to take chances on yourself. Because the only failure in life is not trying.
“I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.”
Vonn also received public support from fellow athletes. American teammate Keely Cashman said critics misunderstood the nature of the accident.
In this image taken from video provided by Olympic Broadcasting Services, OBS, Lindsey Vonn crashes during an alpine ski women's downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d'Ampezzo. (Olympic Broadcasting Services via AP)
This combination of images shows the United States’ Lindsey Vonn crashing during an alpine ski women’s downhill race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
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