Lindsey Vonn is down, but not out. Photos: Lindsey Vonn//Instagram
Lindsey Vonn did not have an easy go of the Olympics. After an incredible comeback story marred by a brutal fall at a World Cup race in Crans-Montana, Switzerland that tore the ACL in her left knee, she decided to race in the Games anyway. That, of course, led to another stomach-churning crash that wrecked her leg. Now, in the wake of her complex tibia fracture, she’s updated fans — and her recovery is not going as smoothly as she’d hoped.
On Friday, after undergoing a six-hour surgery that was the sixth since her February 8 accident, she posted to Instagram to explain a bit about what she’s been going through.
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“Made it through surgery… it took a bit more than six hours to complete,” she wrote. “As you can see, it required a lot of plates and screws to put back together but Dr Hackett did an incredible job. Thank you Dr. Viola for the surgery assist as well!!”
While she’s not out of the hospital just yet, she is hopeful that she’ll be released soon. It’s likely, however, that she’ll need extensive rehab to get herself back in fighting shape. The pain, as you’d guess, hasn’t been a small thing, but Vonn is pretty used to it by now.
“Pain has been hard to manage,” she wrote on X. “Making slow progress but I hope I can be out of the hospital soon. Thank you all for the support. I’m bionic for real now.”
Vonn isn’t a person who quits, though, and despite the severity of her injuries, she’s hopeful. She’s run the gamut when it comes to injuries over the course of her long and celebrated career — breaks, torn ligaments, and many other surgeries — and with any luck, this will just be another bump on the road that is her life.
“With the extent of the trauma, I’ve been struggling a bit post op and have not yet been able to be discharged from the hospital just yet… almost there,” she continued. “Baby steps. Will explain the injury and what it all means soon.”
