Lindsey Vonn confirmed Tuesday she plans to compete at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy despite rupturing her left anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in a crash last week. Vonn, 41, said at a press briefing she still intends to race, though her chances of reaching the podium are diminished. She had gone skiing before the briefing and said she was glad to be “in a position to even try.”
Doctors also diagnosed bone bruising — common with ACL tears — and “some meniscal damage,” which they were unsure was pre-existing or caused by the crash. “I had a feeling it was bad, but I held out hope until I saw the MRI in front of me,” Vonn said. “But I haven’t cried. I haven’t deviated from my plan. Normally, in the past, there’s always a moment where you break down and you realize the severity of things and that your dreams are slipping through your fingers. But I didn’t have that this time. I’m not letting this slip through my fingers. I’m gonna do it. End of story.”
Vonn is scheduled to compete in the women’s downhill on Sunday, Feb. 8, and said she will wear a brace for the race. She had also planned to race in the super-G and the new team combined event. If she medals, she would be the oldest alpine skier to win an Olympic medal. Vonn has three Olympic medals: gold in downhill and bronze in super-G in 2010, and bronze in downhill in 2018.
The Vail, Colorado, native crashed while landing a jump in a World Cup race last Friday, losing control and becoming tangled in safety nets on the upper portion of the course. She walked away from the crash site but was seen avoiding putting weight on her left leg; on Tuesday she confirmed the injury was to her left knee. Two other racers crashed on the same course earlier that day; the race was canceled after Vonn’s crash, with at least one racer citing poor visibility and a bumpy course.
This season Vonn has been the circuit’s leading downhiller, with two victories and three podiums. Her Olympic return follows a five-year retirement; she skis with titanium implants in her right knee. After the injury she posted on Instagram that her “Olympic dream is not over,” a sentiment she reiterated at the briefing: “This isn’t my first rodeo. It’s hard for me to lose faith in myself and what I know I’m capable of. I know my body very well. I have a high degree of confidence in myself, and it doesn’t matter to me if everyone thinks maybe I can’t do this with no ACL, but I still believe in myself and that makes me smile. That makes me confident, that makes me happy.”
Women’s alpine events at the 2026 Olympics are being held in Cortina d’Ampezzo, where Vonn holds the record of 12 World Cup wins.