Lindsey Vonn says she tore her ACL, but still hopes to compete in the Olympics

Milan • Lindsey Vonn tore her ACL in a crash Friday in a World Cup race in Switzerland, the American Alpine skiing star said Tuesday, but will still try to compete at the Olympics.

“I completely ruptured my ACL,” Vonn said at a news conference in Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy, where the women’s Alpine events begin Sunday with the downhill race in which she was tracking to be the favorite. “I also have bone bruising, which is a common injury when you tear your ACL, plus some meniscal damage. We’re not sure if that was pre-existing or from the crash.”

Vonn fell around a sharp turn early in a race in Crans-Montana last Friday, the last World Cup downhill event before the Olympics. She sat against the orange netting on the side of the course for a few minutes, then gingerly made her way down the rest of the course, favoring her left knee — not the one that was partially replaced in 2024, sparking her return to the sport. She was eventually airlifted away from the finish area.

She said she’s skied in recent days, has felt stable but hasn’t tried a full-speed run.

“I’m leaning on everyone on my team,” Vonn said. “… Everyone is working as hard as they can to get me to a place where I feel confident.”

At 41, she’s in the second year of a comeback after a five-year retirement brought on by the mounting toll of several injuries in the inherently dangerous sport. She referenced the 2019 world championships, her final event before retiring, at which she skied with knee injuries and still medaled.

“Thankfully, actually, all of my experience in my life has given me a lot of confidence in what my body can and cannot do,” she said. “I’ve been in this position before. I know how to handle it. … Even though I don’t want to be in this position, I know how to handle it.”

Vonn is leading the World Cup downhill standings after two wins and five podiums in five races this season, making her an Olympic gold-medal favorite if she’s healthy enough to compete at near full strength. She now has 84 career World Cup wins, third most all-time. A five-time Olympian, she won downhill gold and super-G bronze in Vancouver in 2010, and downhill bronze in PyeongChang, South Korea, in 2018.

Vonn said she won’t be sure what to expect from her schedule until she tries a training run. She also figured to be a medal contender in the team combined and super-G events.

“I wish I wasn’t in this position,” she said, “but this is where I am, and I’m going to do the best I can.”

Vonn called the Olympics “icing on the cake” after a remarkable return to the sport that has gone better than most would’ve expected. She said her knee has improved every day and is stable enough now to compete. The training runs will provide more information. The first is Thursday.

“I’m still here. I’m still able to fight. I’m still able to try,” she said. “… I will do everything in my power to be in that starting gate.”

On Monday, as uncertainty about her status swirled, Vonn posted an Instagram photo of the grave of her longtime coach, Erich Sailer, who died last summer. On the post, she wrote, “I know exactly what he would say …. Just wish he was here to say it…”

On Tuesday, Vonn was asked what she thought Sailer would say, exactly, about her trying a speed-skiing race with a torn ACL.

“He would say, ‘It’s only 90 seconds. What’s 90 seconds in a lifetime?’ ”

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.