Lindsey Vonn’s heroic Olympic comeback was cut short by a devastating crash during her opening event at the 2026 Milano Cortina games.
Vonn, who tore her ACL just nine days before taking the slopes for her opening downhill event, crashed just 14 second into competition after clipping a gate. The 41-year-old American skier was airlifted off the mountain and transferred to a nearby hospital where she underwent multiple surgeries to repair a complex tibia fracture on her left leg.
Vonn was in an Italian hospital for more than a week before being transferred back to the United States on Monday. Upon her arrival back home, she shared an update regarding her recovery process.
Vonn revealed she has been “immobile” and bound to a hospital bed ever since her crash on Feb. 8.
“Haven’t stood on my feet in over a week… been in a hospital bed immobile since my race. And although I’m not yet able to stand, being back on home soil feels amazing #imhome#BeLv Huge thank you to everyone in Italy for taking good care of me,” Vonn wrote on social media.
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Vonn also posted a video highlighting her stay at the Italian hospital following her brutal Olympic crash.
“Thankful for friends, family, my team and all the medical staff that are getting me back to myself…. I’m slowly coming back to life, back to basics and the simple things in life that mean the most. Smile. Laugh. Love,” she wrote on Instagram.
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Vonn underwent at least four surgeries during her hospital stay in Italy. She’s expected to have more surgeries now that she’s back in the United States.
“We’re working through all of that at the moment,” president and CEO of the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association Sophie Goldschmidt said, via the Associated Press. “We’ve got a great team around helping her and she’ll go back to the U.S. for further surgeries.”
While this is an arduous journey for Vonn, she doesn’t regret her decision to compete in this year’s Olympics.
“When I think back on my crash, I didn’t stand in the starting gate unaware of the potential consequences,” Vonn said in a post on Saturday. “I knew what I was doing. I chose to take a risk. Every skier in that starting gate took the same risk. Because even if you are the strongest person in the world, the mountain always holds the cards.”
