Lindsey Vonn: I narrowly avoided leg amputation after Olympics crash
· Yahoo Sports
Feb. 23 (UPI) -- Lindsey Vonn narrowly avoided her left leg being amputated due to her injuries from a 2026 Winter Olympics ski crash, she said Monday.
The American Alpine skiing sensation, who tore her left ACL in another crash a week before the Games, sustained multiple fractures in the same leg and right ankle in a second accident during the women's downhill Feb. 8 in Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy.
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She spent two weeks in hospitals, but was finally released after what she called the "most extreme, painful and challenging injury" she's ever faced. She noted in a social media video that she sustained a complex tibia fracture and factures to her fibular head and tibial plateau, which led to compartment syndrome.
Compartment syndrome is defined as excessive pressure build-up in muscle compartments, reducing blood flow and damaging muscles, nerves and tendons.
"Dr. Tom Hackett saved my leg," Vonn said. "He saved my leg from being amputated. He did what is called a fasciotomy, where he cut open both sides of my leg, kinda filleted it open, so to speak, let it breathe and he saved me."
Vonn said Hackett was on location due to her torn ACL.
"If I hadn't had done that, Tom wouldn't have been there," Vonn said. "I wouldn't have been able to save my leg. So I feel very lucky and grateful for him and or the six hour surgery he put in on Wednesday to rebuild it, which went amazingly well."
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Vonn said her hospital stay was extended because low hemoglobin levels from her blood loss from multiple surgeries required a transfusion. She is now in a wheelchair, but hopes to be in crutches in a few weeks.
"I can't tell you how painful it's been," Vonn said. "It's been really hard. It was definitely not the way I wanted to end my Olympics, but it's been really inspiring to watch my teammates."
Vonn, 41, did not say if she plans to return to the sport. The three-time Olympic medalist, who won gold in the downhill in 2010, remains one of the winningest Alpine skiers in history. He 84 career World Cup triumphs trail only fellow Team USA star Mikaela Shiffrin's 108.
I'm bionic for real now pic.twitter.com/SSJNjlBqUL— lindsey vonn (@lindseyvonn) February 20, 2026
"It's going to be a long road, but I always fight and will keep going," Vonn said. "No regrets. I just appreciate all the love and support. It's been really amazing, overwhelming to an extent.
"I wish that it ended differently, but I'd rather go down swinging than not try at all. I think what I was able to achieve was more than anyone expected to begin with. This year was incredible and so worth everything. I worked really hard to get back and it was so worth it.
"This was just one blip on the radar, one thing that I wish didn't happen, but life is life and we have to take the punches as they come.
"I'm going to do the best I can with this one. It really knocked me down, but I'm like Rocky. I'm just going to get back up."