Lindsey Vonn has released her first picture since her horror crash at the Winter Olympics to reveal a huge metal brace down her left leg after a third operation.
The 41-year-old American skier had attempted to regain the women’s downhill title despite having a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) onher left knee, but lost control after colliding with a gate just 13 seconds into her run.
She was left flat out on the snow, screaming in pain, on the mountain at Cortina d’Ampezzo for 20 minutes while being stabilised and then taken by a helicopter to hospital in Treviso.
Vonn had immediate surgery on Sunday for a complex tibia fracture but will require a series of further procedures. Widely regarded as one of the greatest skiers of all time, Vonn had only made the decision to come out of retirement after knee replacement surgery on her right leg.
Posting a photograph on Instagram of the giant external fixation device on her left leg, as well as a picture of all the flowers she has received in hospital, she wrote: “I had my third surgery today and it was successful. Success today has a completely different meaning than it did a few days ago. I’m making progress and while it is slow, I know I’ll be okay.
“Thankful for all of the incredible medical staff, friends, family, who have been by my side and the beautiful outpouring of love and support from people around the world. Also, huge congrats to my teammates and all of the Team USA athletes who are out there inspiring me and giving me something to cheer for.”
Vonn said she had no regrets for attempting her audacious comeback and competing with such a serious injury to her left leg, which she had suffered just nine days earlier in Switzerland. “We dream. We love. We jump. And sometimes we fall,” she said. “Sometimes our hearts are broken. Sometimes we don’t achieve the dreams we know we could have. But that is also the beauty of life; we can try. Because the only failure in life is not trying. I tried. I dreamt. I jumped.”
