• Posted February 25, 2026

Lindsey Vonn Says Olympic Crash Nearly Cost Her a Leg

Olympic ski star Lindsey Vonn says a serious crash at the Milan Cortina Olympics nearly cost her a left leg.

In an Instagram post shared Monday, the 41-year-old skier revealed that her injuries were far worse than first reported after she crashed during the women’s downhill event on Feb. 8, just 13 seconds into her run.

After clipping a gate and flying off course, Vonn suffered a complex fracture of her left tibia. But she later learned the trauma caused a dangerous condition called compartment syndrome, which can cut off blood flow and permanently damage muscles if not treated quickly, The Associated Press reported.

“When you have so much trauma to one area of your body so that there’s too much blood and it gets stuck and it basically crushes everything,” Vonn said.

Vonn credited Dr. Tom Hackett, an orthopedic surgeon for Team USA, with saving her leg by performing an emergency procedure known as a fasciotomy, which relieves pressure inside the muscle.

“He filleted it open (and) let it breathe, and he saved me,” she said.

Vonn said Hackett was only in Cortina because she was already being treated for a torn ACL in her left knee, an injury she suffered shortly before the Olympics.

“If I hadn’t had done that, Tom wouldn’t have been there (and he) wouldn’t have been able to save my leg,” she said.

Vonn was hospitalized for about a week in Treviso, Italy, where she underwent multiple surgeries.

She said her leg was “in pieces” after the crash and that she struggled with pain and heavy blood loss, requiring a blood transfusion to raise her hemoglobin levels.

She also broke her right ankle during the fall.

“It has been quite the journey and by far the most extreme and painful and challenging injury I’ve ever faced in my entire life times 100,” Vonn said.

Now discharged from the hospital, Vonn said she is confined to a wheelchair and slowly working toward using crutches.

She expects it will take about a year for the bones in her left leg to heal. Only after that will doctors be able to repair her torn ACL.

“It’s going to be a long road,” she said. “I always fight and we keep going.”

Despite the severity of her injuries, Vonn said she has no regrets about returning to competition after a six-year retirement or racing at the Olympics while injured.

“I wish it had ended differently, but I’d rather go down swinging than not try at all,” she said. “This year was incredible and so worth everything.”

She described the crash as “one blip on the radar,” adding that she plans to keep moving forward.

“Life is life and we have to take the punches that come,” Vonn said. “Going to do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down. But I’m like Rocky. I’ll just keep getting back up.”

More information

The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons has more on compartment syndrome.

SOURCE: The Associated Press, Feb. 23, 2026